Technology outfit GridBeyond has been awarded $7.8m to work on the Advanced Reliability and Resiliency Operations for Wind and Solar (ARROWS) R&D project funded by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The ARROWS scheme will demonstrate the scalability, cost-effectiveness, and reliability of using the company’s AI-powered Renewable Controls Platform (RCP) technology to autonomously provide advanced grid services.
Working with the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), this technology will more fully integrate a range of inverter-based resources (IBRs) – like solar and battery storage– into the state’s electricity grid.
Like a growing number of utilities, PNM has committed to 100% clean energy by 2040. Although widespread deployment of clean energy assets is crucial in the fight against climate change, onboarding these assets requires effort to address a variety of challenges – ranging from potential service disruptions to device failures to decreased energy security throughout New Mexico (including among the 19 tribal communities that PNM currently serves).
To achieve the utility’s integration goals, GridBeyond will implement its RCP software – an AI-powered platform used to forecast, optimise, and control the data-rich IBRs under PNM’s control in real-time.
The project includes several discrete phases of design, testing, and validation that will culminate in two 6+ months demonstration periods, allowing GridBeyond to collect, analyse, and quantify PNM’s overall cost of service – and how successfully it integrated IBRs against a backdrop of variable renewable power output and storage.
GridBeyond is joined with a team including DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which will provide hardware-in-the-loop, control algorithm, and grid service expertise.
Electricity market consultant Utilicast will help the company navigate the state’s regulatory landscape.
Meanwhile, New Mexico State University will carefully collect and analyse data resulting from the demonstrations.
GridBeyond’s principal investigator of the project and senior product manager Ben Sigrin said: “This project has the potential to boost confidence in renewable power investment – while simultaneously helping to make New Mexico’s utility grid both greener and more resilient.
“In addition to generating both economic and environmental benefits across the state, this project will serve as a template for other utilities to follow as they actively work to achieve their own green sustainability targets.”