Dive Brief:
- The Department of Energy has awarded Commonwealth Edison, an Exelon utility, a $1.2 million grant to build a master controller that could drive the operations of clusters of microgrids.
- The creation of a master controller is considered a key step in developing and harnessing the potential of microgrids.
- The utility will partner on the project with several parties, including the Illinois Institute of Technology's Robert W. Galvin Center for Electricity Innovation and the University of Denver.
Dive Insight:
ComEd's master controller would essentially be the brain of a microgrid, collecting data from a variety of individual energy resources, centrally determining how to control and operate those energy resources, and sending out the control signals that execute those decisions. And while a $1.2 million grant doesn't seem like a huge investment, it's impressive to note that a utility company is taking lead on the project.
"There is no doubt that microgrids will be core components of the future integrated grids and extensive research and development efforts will be undertaken in upcoming years," said Amin Khodaei, an assistant professor in the Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Denver. "The truly remarkable and distinguishing feature of this project is that it is initiated and will be led by a utility company.”
The University of Denver is among a long list of institutions ComEd will partner with on the project, including: Alstom Grid, Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois Institute of Technology, Microsoft, OSIsoft, Quanta Technologies, S&C Electric, and Schneider Electric.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel threw support behind the project, saying community-based microgrids have "the potential to provide benefits to the city through improved reliability and enhanced resiliency in response to weather related events."
