The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced the results of the 2019 Grid Modernization Lab Call with funding of approximately US$80 million over three years. This funding aims to strengthen, transform, and improve the resilience of energy infrastructure to ensure the nation’s access to reliable and secure sources of energy now and in the future.
The 2019 Grid Modernization Lab Call is the latest solicitation released over the past four years by the Grid Modernization Initiative (GMI), a crosscutting effort that focuses public and private partnerships to develop a portfolio of new tools and technologies that measure, analyze, predict, protect, and control the grid of the future. This solicitation is focused on developing projects in resilience modeling, energy storage and system flexibility, advanced sensors and data analytics, institutional support and analysis, cyber-physical security, and generation.
At least two of the DOE’s five applied science offices (the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response; the Office of Electricity; the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; the Office of Fossil Energy; and the Office of Nuclear Energy) will sponsor each project.
The 2019 Grid Modernization Lab Call will expand on work started in 2016, with two major distinctions — the portfolio of projects emphasizes a fully integrated vision of the energy system, from fuel to generation to load, including interdependent infrastructures while focusing on bulk-power system impacts. The projects — aiming to maintain the reliability and resilience of the grid — are expected to show meaningful results in 18 months to two years.
“In order to continue growing our economy and strengthening our national security, we need to invest in projects that bolster the reliability and resiliency of our grid,” said Undersecretary of Energy Mark W. Menezes. “Working together with our national laboratories and private sector partners, these projects will establish a stronger, more resilient grid, and ensure that Americans continue to enjoy the benefits of unprecedented energy abundance.”
The Grid Modernization Laboratory Consortium (GMLC) was established as a strategic partnership between the DOE and the national laboratories to bring together leading experts, technologies, and resources to collaborate on the goal of modernizing the nation’s grid. The benefits of the GMLC include more efficient use of resources, shared networks, better learning and preservation of knowledge, enhanced laboratory coordination and collaboration, and regional perspective and relationships with local stakeholders and the industry. The GMLC will facilitate strong collaboration among the resultant awards to the national laboratories and their industry partners. A list of the awarded projects, projected funding amounts, national laboratories, and partners can be found here.
