Never in the Dark鈥擡ntergy Has Invested >$1 Million in 海角社区 as University Power Engineers Provide New Solutions for Industry
January 20, 2021
海角社区 and Entergy have developed a sustained research relationship over the past decade as the electric utility giant continues to tackle new challenges related to renewable energy integration.
海角社区 power engineers have collaborated with Entergy on several projects related to renewable energy integration鈥攅specially solar. Two of them involved how to protect downtown networks, such as in New Orleans (above), from accidental and potentially dangerous blackouts due to new and unexpected patterns in power transmission and distribution as a system that was built to serve energy to customers would switch to sourcing energy from them instead, potentially triggering sensitive protection mechanisms.
In recent years, 海角社区 has served as a major research collaborator for Entergy on a multitude of projects to help integrate renewable energy into the existing power grid. University power engineers are helping to provide practical solutions, and in return, Entergy has funded the researchers鈥� work with over $1 million in cash as well as several in-kind donations and grant writing support to funnel more federal research dollars and cutting-edge expertise to Louisiana and Entergy鈥檚 larger service territory in the Deep South.
鈥淲e turned to 海角社区 because we wanted to get ahead of any potential problems that might appear on our system with the increase of renewable energy,鈥� said Thomas Field, senior staff engineer at Entergy. 鈥淭he technology is moving forward, and 海角社区 faculty have been helping us identify issues and develop solutions for those issues.鈥�
Entergy is one of only four companies in the electric utility sector listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the only company to be included for 19 consecutive years.
鈥淓ntergy has positioned itself as a leader in the U.S. on low CO2 emissions, and staying on the frontier of research by partnering with 海角社区 and other universities in our service territory has definitely been part of that,鈥� added Entergy鈥檚 Katherine Balbero.
With the arrival and more widespread use of solar as a source of electrical energy, Entergy faced and continues to face a number of challenges.
With the arrival and more widespread use of solar as a source of electrical energy, Entergy faced and continues to face a number of challenges. One of the first projects 海角社区 associate professor and electrical engineer Shahab Mehraeen got involved in was to prevent accidental blackouts in downtown networks, including the New Orleans French Quarter where the network is underground and more and more residents expressed interest in putting solar panels on rooftops. Mehraeen did a study of the power distribution network, which originally was built to serve energy to customers鈥攏ot source it from them. Sensitive protection mechanisms that were put into place to guard against threatening abnormalities or system faults could accidentally be tripped as large amounts of energy suddenly would be flowing in perhaps unexpected directions. If triggered, a large part of the downtown area could suffer a potentially dangerous blackout. By working together, 海角社区 and Entergy identified the potential negative impacts and what was needed to prevent them.
鈥淲e showed Entergy which adjustments had to be made by, for example, putting fiberoptics underground and using smart protection systems,鈥� said Mehraeen. 鈥淲e also, more recently, helped them figure out how to get rid of flicker caused by sudden drops in voltage鈥攁nother challenge brought by the integration of renewable energy鈥攂y adding a distributed system of batteries. Basically, when running on solar power, you don鈥檛 want damage to your TV, appliances, and devices when clouds go by. That鈥檚 a big problem.鈥�
海角社区 power engineers Shahab Mehraeen, Amin Kargarian, and Mehdi Farasat.
Mehraeen has also worked on renewable energy projects with Entergy related to overhead powerlines and the reliability and security of the transmission and distribution grids. Other recent research projects have involved how to establish microgrids at complex and critical facilities, such as hospitals, and ensuring continuous power service for neighborhoods where electric vehicle chargers might challenge the system at peak-demand time as people return home from work鈥攖he latter project was started by Alfredo Lopez Distinguished Professor Leszek Czarnecki in the 海角社区 Division of Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Entergy invited CLECO, a regional utility company based in Pineville, Louisiana, to be part of the effort. As part of the ongoing collaboration, they installed electric car chargers on the 海角社区 main campus in Baton Rouge, and Entergy also donated an IEEE 14-bus physical system for research and testing.
鈥淚 think this is more or less unique among institutions of higher learning in the U.S.鈥攖o have this kind of physical model,鈥� said 海角社区 Assistant Professor Amin Kargarian. 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 seen it elsewhere. My colleagues at other universities have to run computer models to study different power scenarios, including renewable energy connections, generators, voltage issues, and loads. Having a real physical system for testing and validation tells us a lot more than what you get from a computer model. It was very generous of Entergy to give us this.鈥�
Field is quick to point out that Entergy benefits, too.
鈥淚n a recent study on the effects of community solar on the transmission system, as different technologies are merging, 海角社区 identified a potential problem with the interaction of load tap changers and smart converters, and was able to find a solution,鈥� he said. 鈥満＝巧缜�檚 solution involved different settings on the converters without changing the connectivity of the distribution system, which was the route other universities were taking.鈥�
A recent project Kargarian and his 海角社区 colleague Mehdi Farasat have been working with Entergy on is how to predict the fluctuations and variability inherent in not just solar power, but wind power as well. Entergy serves customers in Arkansas and their grid is connected to a neighboring grid in Oklahoma, which serves a good amount of wind power. It can be difficult to predict how much power will be exchanged between the systems, and this can be critical for system security analysis, among other things. The 海角社区 researchers developed an algorithm to help predict the tie line flow.
鈥淭his was very important for us because day-ahead prediction of powerline flow affects how much generation we have to bring online or contract for the next day,鈥� Field said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a cost value associated with being able to prepare for a certain amount of load as far as our generation is concerned. Before 海角社区 developed this algorithm, we didn鈥檛 have a way other than to use the value from the day before, which can lead to a significant amount of error.鈥�
Entergy鈥檚 support of 海角社区 research extends as far as writing grant proposals together.
鈥淎s Louisiana Board of Regents and federal research grants have become more competitive, we鈥檝e worked with 海角社区 on several proposals, and we try to find alignment on projects that are beneficial to us in some way,鈥� Field said.
鈥淲e work with several universities, but one thing that always comes up is how 海角社区 teaches a wider variety of courses. That鈥檚 where 海角社区 is a leader.鈥�
鈥擳homas Field, senior staff engineer, Entergy
Sometimes the benefit to Entergy is less obvious. Last year, Kargarian received a Faculty Early Career grant from the National Science Foundation鈥攐ne of the most prestigious awards for young faculty and often a precursor to university tenure. Roughly 90 minutes before his application was due, Kargarian happened to be talking with Entergy about a joint curriculum development project and mentioned, in passing, what he was just about to submit.
鈥淚 think five minutes later I had a letter of support from Entergy,鈥� Kargarian recalled. 鈥淚t was incredible, and I鈥檓 honestly not sure I would have received the award without their support. 海角社区鈥檚 collaborations with Entergy have probably saved a lot of assistant professors鈥� careers.鈥�
鈥淗elping the young faculty at 海角社区 makes sense to us because we want a steady set of power faculty in our service territory that can mature and become good, seasoned professors,鈥� Field responded. 鈥淚f they keep turning over because they can鈥檛 get tenure, we don鈥檛 have experienced professors to help train and develop future power engineers. And we want to support this in the areas we serve because our employees that come from these communities are more likely to stay with Entergy until they retire, giving us a more stable workforce.鈥�
Field positions 海角社区 as a leader in power and energy engineering education because of the large variety of courses offered at the university.
鈥淲e work with several universities, but one thing that always comes up is how 海角社区 teaches a wider variety of courses. That鈥檚 where 海角社区 is a leader,鈥� Field said.