New Lab to Help Utilities "See" Grid of the Future
By Heather Lammers, NREL

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- With the simple flick of a light switch, you are connected to "the machine." The North American electric grid — the world's most complex transmission and distribution system — also is referred to as the world's largest machine. That same machine has run reliably on coal, natural gas and nuclear energy for decades.

Now, it's time for a tune up. Newer power generation technologies such as wind and solar are gaining market share, while at the same time they are introducing an uncertain wrinkle into the old reliable power grid — variability.

The new Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) at U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is tackling the challenge of keeping the power grid running reliability while at the same time introducing a host of new technologies into an already complex system.

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Many of the technologies on the grid are antiquated, and can be up to 50 years old. A "smart grid" has three components that the current grid doesn't have:
- Sensors as part of the grid so that power quality is being measure in real time
- Communications that relay data coming from the sensors back to utility operators so they can look at it and make decisions
- Controls that allow changes in the operation of the system from a central control room.

"People are surprised to learn that most utilities still don't know about a power outage until they get a call from a customer," Mooney said....

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