The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced awards totaling $137 million for small businesses in 30 states. The 120 projects address multiple mission areas across the Department, including clean energy, cybersecurity, high energy physics, and nuclear nonproliferation.
The Office of Electricity is supporting four projects focused on advanced protective relaying and energy storage power conversion. Specific projects are:
- Elintrix (CA): Protective relaying systems can fail to detect certain, dangerous types of electric grid faults or degradation which can result in catastrophic wildfires, loss of life, and destruction of property. This project will explore the use of electronic devices to actively interrogate the grid, revealing otherwise undetected abnormalities to immediately provide information to the protection relay system, shortening the time that a risk remains threat.
- Delphire Inc. (CA): Intelligent detection systems can significantly reduce the damaged caused from grid related wildfires by alerting utilities to the threat at the earliest stage. This project will develop a system that works from below the forest canopy, supplying more detailed pictures for faster confirmation and a more informed and effective response.
- INNOSYS INC. (UT): A quickly dwindling pool of experienced operators to share real-world knowledge and an increasing rate of disengagement from training programs has presented challenges in the development of the next general of grid operator workforce. This project will ensure operators have access to simulation-based learning and are able to learn through interactions with realistic scenarios.
- Mallika Ashwin Maya Corporation (NJ): This project will develop battery energy storage systems with three-phase grid integrated inverters. By using 3D printed magnetic components with Nanocrystalline soft magnetic material, these inverters will advance the state of power conversion system magnets for grid-tied energy storage.