Lead Performer: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory – Richland, WA
Partners:
-- Oak Ridge National Laboratory – Oak Ridge, TN
-- United Technologies Research Center – East Hartford, CT
-- Tennessee Valley Authority – Knoxville, TN
-- Bonneville Power Administration – Portland, OR
-- University of Florida – Gainesville, FL
DOE Total Funding: $3,550,000
Cost Share: $500,000
Project Term: April 2016 – March 2018
Funding Opportunity: DOE Grid Modernization Laboratory Consortium (GMLC) Lab Call
Project Objective
As a part of the Department of Energy’s Grid Modernization Initiative, the Grid Modernization Laboratory Consortium projects represent a comprehensive portfolio of critical research and development in advanced storage systems, clean energy integration, standards and test procedures, and a number of other key grid modernization areas.
This project aims to enable utilities to use flexible building loads as virtual storage (VS) resources to provide grid services, integrate more distributed energy resources into the grid, and improve building operational efficiency. These objectives will be achieved by performing a national opportunity assessment to quantify the potential of VS resources; developing a flexibility screening tool to quantify regional potential of VS resources, performing cost-benefit assessment for using VS to provide grid services complementary to physical storage; developing controls for VS assets to provide grid services using the VOLTTRON platform; and testing and validating VS performance using realistic scenarios based on input from utilities and building owners.
Project Impact
By enabling utilities to use flexible building loads as VS resources, this project will lower the cost of delivery of grid-related services by using behind-the meter VS assets.
Contacts
DOE Technology Manager: Joe Hagerman
Principal Investigator: Karanjit Kalsi, PNNL