Center for Ultra-Wide-Area Resilient Electric Energy Transmission Networks

Large Scale Testbed The overall objective of the Large-Scale System Testbed is to represent large grids of the future, such as that of North America, at several resolution levels for both evaluation of new technologies and to drive research efforts. The success of the testbed enables a comprehensive evaluation of the impact of the changes and new technologies on the operation of future power grids. The models include different scenarios of generation mix and operating scenarios, wide-area measurements, new actuation technologies and new control strategies. Hardware Testbed CURENT aims at developing the North America power grid system with better performance and higher efficiency. A power electronic converter based Hardware Universal Grid Emulator (HUGE) will be established to allow testing of different power system architectures as well as integration and demonstration of key technologies on monitoring, control, actuation and visualization as well. --- The headquarters of CURENT is located on the main campus of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in the Min H. Kao Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building. This $37.5 million building was made possible by a donation from Dr. Min H. Kao, an alumni of UT and the CEO and founder of Garmin. The building opened on December 16th, 2011. It houses 150,000 square feet of offices, research laboratories, and classrooms. CURENT occupies the 1st and 5th floor of the Min Kao Building, and the main office is in Suite 555. --- University of Tennessee, Knoxville Facilities The College of Engineering committed 16,000 ft2 of space to the center that houses the CURENT Hardware Testbed, CURENT Large-scale System Testbed, FNET monitoring and visualization lab, as well as general power systems and power electronics lab facilities. The center's labs have dedicated high-power feeds to satisfy any special power needs. Dedicated conference rooms, equipped with state-of-the-art communications and video-conferencing technology, facilitate collaboration with the partner institutions and industry partners. Demonstrating UT’s commitment to sustainability, the facility is expected to obtain the U.S. Green Building Council’s prestigious LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, becoming the first building on the main campus to do so. Other facilities at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville include: The Power Information Technology Laboratory has two main functions. It first serves as the data center for the FNET project, which collects high-resolution wide-area frequency data from over 80 Frequency Disturbance Recorder (FDR) sensors located throughout the U.S. power grid and around the world. The Power IT Lab is also used to develop power monitoring hardware and server software for this nationwide power frequency dynamics monitoring network. This lab also performs the design, testing, and calibration of the FDRs. Specialized hardware includes: Agilent 6811B AC power source/analyzer Tektronix TDS304C digital phosphor oscilloscope (300 MHz, 3.5 GS/s) Doble F6150 power system simulator Doble High Precision Test kit, which is equipped with GPS satellite receiver and precise measurement systems using the timing signal provided by these satellites. Tektronix AFG3021B single channel arbitrary function generator High performance digital scopes HP Network Analyzer Power quality and harmonic measurement instruments The Power Systems Simulation Laboratory, located in Greve Hall, is equipped with computers and software to perform power systems research, as well as power quality and harmonic measurement instruments. The lab research software includes EMTP-RV, EMTDC, Saber, Ansoft, PSS/E, and PSLF. The Power Electronics Laboratory is known for its high-quality research contributions in power electronic converters, control of motor drives, power quality, and silicon carbide-based power electronic systems. The laboratory is located in the Science and Engineering Research Facility and is being renovated with $1 million in equipment funding from an ONR Defense University Research Instrumentation Fund (DURIP) and UTK internal funding. The main special equipment includes: 100 kW, 1000 V DC power supply 20 kW, 460 V single- and three-phase variable frequency AC power source high power curve tracer 20 kW electronic and RL load impedance analyzer and EMI tester temperature control and measurement system power analyzer high frequency power amplifiers digital oscilloscopes and probes magnetic winders DSP-based and real-time control systems (OPAL-RT) PM and induction machines and drives The laboratory also has state-of-the-art software (Saber, Matlab/Simulink, PSIM, PLECS, Protel, ANSOFT, etc.) for circuit simulation, PCB design, control simulation, circuit parameter extraction, and finite element analysis for electromagnetic and thermal-mechanical performance. The laboratory also has solar panels, fuel cells, and multilevel converters for use as distributed energy sources. A 100,000-core Cray XT5 supercomputer, Kraken is the world’s first academic supercomputer to reach petascale capability, performing more than one quadrillion operations per second. It is currently ranked eleventh among the fastest supercomputers in the world. Funded by a $65 million grant from the National Science Foundation, the computer began operating in 2007. It is currently housed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. UT faculty have conducted more than 33 projects on Kraken, which is more than any other university. Kraken is a part of TeraGrid, a nationwide network of supercomputers established by the NSF to facilitate scientific research. --- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Facilities The Distributed Generation and Smart Grid Test-Bed provides a platform for research on grid integration of renewable energy and other distributed generation resources. It includes the following major components: A grid simulator that can be programmed to emulate power grids with different voltage, frequency, and harmonic content, as well as dynamic characteristics such as impedance. The grid simulator, rated at 75 kW, is realized by two voltage-source converters connected back-to-back, and can be configured for operation in either single-phase or three-phase modes. A 7 kW fuel-cell-based DG unit consisting of a single-phase grid-connected inverter and a fuel cell simulator. The fuel cell simulator is developed using a programmable dc power source, with a DSP controller which runs the fuel cell model and uses the measured output current to determine a voltage reference for the dc power source. A 3 kW solar-based DG unit also consisting of a single-phase grid-connected inverter and a solar panel simulator. The solar panel simulator is based on a programmable power supply and is similar to the fuel cell simulator. Two additional solar inverters are also available for independently interfacing with additional solar power sources. A 15 kW wind power generation system based on a motor-generator set. The motor is controlled by a variable-speed drive and can be programmed to emulate the operation of a wind turbine under variable wind conditions. The generator output is rectified using an actively controlled rectifier and then connected to the test-bed distribution network through a three-phase PWM inverter. Both the motor and the generator are custom-designed permanent-magnetic machines with low rated speeds suitable for direct-drive wind applications. A distribution network with protection devices to allow each of the DG units and various loads to be connected with the grid simulator for system testing. An electronic AC load that can be programmed to emulate different load characteristics (resistive, capacitive, constant current, constant power, etc.) for loading of the grid simulator and different DG units. A similar programmable electronic DC load which can be used in conjunction with a diode rectifier to emulate other types of load behavior. A new 10-15 kWh battery-based energy storage subsystem will be added in the near future. The Power Grid Control Laboratory has two unique capabilities. The first is a FACTS Controller Operator Training Simulator (OTS) developed for STATCOM, SSSC, UPFC, and IPFC operations. A customized version of this OTS is operational at the New York Power Authority’s control center as part of the operator training requirements. The second is an integrated synchrophasor data system platform incorporating a phasor data concentrator and a large-scale real-time database for phasor data collection and phasor data application program development. A prototype, called a Flexible Integrated Phasor System (FIPS), is under development, with the intent of deployment in the New England and New York power systems as research tools. Such systems will make synchrophasor data collection and retrieval much easier, which will greatly accelerate the development of methods and algorithms for phasor data applications. --- Northeastern University Facilities The Electric Power and Energy Systems group maintains three laboratories: the Power Systems Lab, the Power Electronics and Motion Control Lab, and the Energy Processing Lab. The laboratories include specialized equipment for measurement and control development for energy processing systems including LED-based lighting, solar cells, and electromechanical systems. Analytical software available in these labs consists of industry-grade simulation applications including the EPRI power system analysis programs (IPFLOW, ETMSP, and DYNRED), PSCAD for simulations of high-power electronics, and Saber for power electronic systems. The main areas of research include power system dynamics and control, state estimation, design and control of power electronic converters, power quality, and web-based instructional development. --- Tuskegee University Facilities The Department of Electrical Engineering maintains a number of laboratories used to support classes and research in the areas of control systems, power systems, power electronics and electrical drives, and communications. The Control Systems Laboratory consists of linear and nonlinear mechanisms such as inverted pendulums, rectilinear mass/spring/damper system, an industrial plant emulator, a magnetic levitator, and a gyroscope. The Power Systems Laboratory is installed with equipment specialized for education and research in the area of power engineering, which includes various DC and AC power supplies, adjustable loads at different power levels, and high-end measurement devices. There is also a solar house and an electrical car powered by solar energy from previous research activities, which can be updated for future research related to renewable energy systems. The Department is currently upgrading the Power Electronics and Electrical Drives Laboratory to facilitate advanced research in the design and control of power converters and induction motor controllers. Additional facilities include a communications laboratory and a Class 1000 clean room capable of synthesizing thin film solar cells and electronic devices including those used in high power applications. --- Other Facilities Oak Ridge National Laboratory Many Center faculty at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville hold joint appointments at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which allows them to make use of ORNL's world-class facilities. GridEye Based on the success of the FNET project at Virginia Tech and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, a full-scale monitoring infrastructure called GridEye is under development at ORNL. GridEye will provide an independent observation system of U.S. power grids, covering all three interconnections. The GridEye infrastructure will be an excellent platform for many real-time monitoring applications, as well as offline data mining and analysis functions. Currently, many electric utilities operate their own proprietary PMU-based Wide-Area Measurement Systems (WAMS). Unfortunately, the information obtained via these systems cannot be shared easily because of energy market competition and the high costs associated with the installation of PMUs. These obstacles significantly impede the application of WAMS to improving the security and efficiency of the power grid. FNET is a low-cost, high precision alternative to traditional PMU-based WAMS. It is cost effective and flexible, and has provided power system operators, customers, policy makers, and researchers with a low-investment, easy-to-access, wide-area frequency measurement network over the Internet. DECC Laboratory The Distributed Energy Communications & Controls (DECC) Laboratory is a unique first-of-its-kind R&D facility for testing reactive power producing distributed energy resources. The goal of the laboratory is to work with the power industry, manufacturers, and universities in developing local control for producing reactive power from reciprocating engines, microturbines and fuel cells using synchronous generators and inverters. The laboratory is fully operational with an area for testing and operation of a 300 kVAr synchronous condenser (250 hp synchronous motor operated unloaded and overexcited) and an inverter testing area. The inverter testing area is capable of testing an inverter either off the grid using resistive and reactive load banks or on the grid by interfacing with the ORNL distribution system via a 480 V/600 A distribution panel to a 750 kVA transformer connected to a circuit from the 3000 V substation. VERDE Laboratory The Visualizing Energy Resources Dynamically on the Earth Laboratory (VERDE) focuses on developing a platform that can be used to integrate different elements of visualization tools. For example, the North American Phasor Initiative (NAPSI) utilizes time-synchronized measurements of frequency, voltage, and current to provide real-time, wide-area situational awareness. This information can be integrated into VERDE to display the status of the transmission system over a wide area and calculate the "health" of the grid in real time. Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Research Center (PEEMRC) The laboratory area of PEEMRC is located in the National Transportation Research Center (NTRC), which is a joint UT/ORNL facility, and has 9,700 square feet of space for developing, building, and testing the next-generation prototype power electronics and electric machine technologies. This laboratory is the premier power electronics research laboratory among the DOE national laboratories. The most advanced analysis, simulation, and design software is available to the PEEMRC staff to implement state-of-the art power electronic circuit, packaging, and motor designs. Staff members, collaborating UTK faculty and students, use and develop the latest analysis, simulation, and modeling software to develop designs prior to hardware implementation. The facility houses a broad spectrum of state-of-the-art measurement equipment along with a rapid prototyping mechanical fabrication shop. Jaguar A 250,000-core Cray system capable of performing 2.3 quadrillion calculations per second, Jaguar is the fastest supercomputer in the United States and the third fastest in the world. Jaguar is a part of TeraGrid, a nationwide network of supercomputers established by the NSF to facilitate scientific research.