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Energy@Rensselaer: Researchers Secure $2 Million Award To Boost Reliability, Sustainability of Power Grids
Rensselaer Researchers To Partner With
University of Tennessee, Knoxville for New ERC Funded by NSF
and DoE
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced a five-year,
$18.5 million award to launch a prestigious Engineering
Research Center (ERC) dedicated to developing the next
generation of electric grids. These innovative “smart grids”
hold the promise of higher efficiency, greater reliability, and
the smoother integration of renewable energy sources into large
power transmission systems.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will play a key role in the
ERC, led by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK). The
interdisciplinary center, named CURENT (Center for
Ultra-wide-area Resilient Electric Energy Transmission
Networks), brings together a consortium of academia, industry,
and national laboratories to tackle the grand challenge of
enabling a more intelligent, resilient electrical grid that
accepts more renewable energy sources. CURENT is jointly funded
by NSF and the U.S. Department of Energy. It is the first ERC
dedicated to power system transmission.
“Our nation’s current and projected consumption of electric
power necessitates a major shift in thinking about how we will
manage, monitor, and distribute power in a way that is highly
reliable, sustainable, and secure. CURENT addresses these
critical needs,” said
David Rosowsky, dean of the School of Engineering at
Rensselaer. “Rensselaer has a strong focus on energy research,
and long-standing reputation for leading-edge research in
electric power, systems, and controls, as well as expertise in
infrastructure systems, networks, and computational sciences.
We look forward to working with our partners to realize the
exciting vision of CURENT.”
Leading the Rensselaer team is
Joe Chow, professor in the Department of Electrical,
Computer, and Systems Engineering (ECSE). An expert in
power grid control, Chow said Rensselaer has strong programs in
power systems and power electronics and a rich wealth of
knowledge related to synchrophasors, allowing new mechanisms to
monitor the power grid for boosting the amount of energy that
can be reliably transmitted on high-power, high-voltage
electric grids.
“Our vision for the coming decades is of ultra-efficient
homes and buildings equipped with smart meters, easy interfaces
that allow us to see when and how we’re using energy, and
seamless integration of home-based solar and wind power
generation into the larger grid,” Chow said. “In collaboration
with UTK and others, CURENT sets us on that path.”
Other Rensselaer investigators are: power electronics expert
Jian Sun, ECSE
professor and director of the New York State Center for
Future Energy Systems at Rensselaer; machines and renewable
energy expert Leila Parsa, ECSE
associate professor; Dan
Shawhan, assistant professor in the Department of
Economics; cybersecurity expert Biplab
Sikdar, ECSE associate professor; and
Paul Schoch, ECSE associate professor. Additionally,
undergraduate and graduate students at Rensselaer will work on
the CURENT research and projects.
CURENT will be based at UTK. Along with Rensselaer, UTK’s
university partners in the United States are Northeastern
University and Tuskegee University. Researchers at the National
Technical University of Athens in Greece, Tsinghua University
in China, and the University of Waterloo in Canada will
contribute additional expertise and international
perspectives.
More than 40 industry partners, which range from small
start-up firms to manufacturers to utility companies, will
guide strategic planning, spur innovation, and provide
university students with first-hand experience in
entrepreneurship. CURENT will also work with three regional
organizations — Southwest Research Institute, Technology 2020,
and the University of Tennessee Research Foundation — to
stimulate technology transfer.
Another third-generation NSF ERC, the Smart Lighting ERC,
dedicated to developing new technologies and applications that
will change the way society uses lighting, is based at
Rensselaer.
For more information CURENT, visit:
For additional stories about energy research and education
at Rensselaer, visit:
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Published
August 18,
2011 |
Contact: Michael Mullaney
Phone: (518) 276-6161
E-mail: mullam@rpi.edu |
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