Alstom has a specialist interest in smart grid and innovative utility solutions. The new centre of excellence witll be the first of its kind and will help to advance the development of microgrid technologies as part of The Navy Yard’s grid modernisation project.
“The energy industry is going through a major transformation and there is a significant need and opportunity to improve grid resiliency, security, reliability and efficiency while seamlessly incorporating renewable energy resources”said Michael Atkinson, President of Alstom Grid North America. “Microgrids will play a key role in the modernization of the energy grid and The Navy Yard project will help advance this technology platform in the future.”
Neil Sharkey, Penn State’s vice president for research, added that the project will place the university and its partners at the forefront of the country’s efforts to develop technologies for improved energy efficiency.
The partnership will strengthen the ongoing development and demonstration of microgrid technologies being conducted at The Navy Yard campus. The project will be funded from a $1.2 million grant awarded to Alstom by the US Department of Energy (DOE) in 2014. Alstom will combine its energy management and substation automation technology including advanced systems and controllers to provide “Utility-Customer Nexus in a Box” supporting end-to-end functions. This will include microgrid islanding, synchronization and reconnection, protection, voltage, frequency, power quality management and dispatch and system resiliency.
The Navy Yard is a 1,200-acre former naval shipyard, which has been transformed into a progressive and modern business campus with more than 145 companies in the office, industrial, and R&D sectors occupying more than 7.0 million square feet of space. The steady combination of distributed renewable resources and energy storage assets will enable portions of the campus to become self-sufficient in generating, managing and storing electricity, allowing it to operate independently from the national grid in the event of an outage.
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