Georgia power company Southern Company is partnering with Georgia Tech and Smart Wires on a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-backed project aimed at strengthening Georgia’s power grid.
The initiative, which begins in 2025, will introduce advanced power flow control (APFC) and dynamic line rating (DLR) technologies to the power grid to ease the integration of renewable energy and meet new demands more quickly. You will be able to respond.
Georgia Tech’s Distributed Energy Center is leading the project. DOE selected it in November 2021 as one of four projects for Grid Enhancement Technology (GET) funding. GET is designed to improve grid reliability, maximize existing infrastructure, and speed up renewable power connections.
This project uses an APFC called SmartValve from Smart Wires and DLR software known as SUMO. Together, they will develop control algorithms that will optimize the use of the grid and help these solutions work better together.
Tim Lewen, Georgia Tech’s interim executive vice president for research, called the project “an important step toward integrating more efficient, reliable, and clean energy sources.” He highlighted the potential of this partnership to test innovative ways to manage Georgia’s power grid by combining APFC and DLR technologies.
This will be the first large-scale deployment to combine both APFC and DLR, and the project will evaluate how they work together to improve efficiency. Essentially, SUMO monitors real-time weather conditions to identify when power lines have excess capacity. SmartValve, on the other hand, can redirect power to those power lines and utilize that extra space. Conversely, if it’s a hot day and the line is stressed, SmartValve can shift power to a circuit with more headroom, reducing the risk of problems and keeping things running smoothly.
Additionally, SmartValve is portable and can be installed in just one week. This means you can move around as your system needs change without having to stop for long periods of time.
The project will include a one-year project to provide Southern Company with hands-on experience that could help other utilities adopt similar solutions and expand the use of grid-strengthening technologies across the United States. Includes a one-year implementation period.
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