Hitachi Enters Agreement with Bonneville Power Administration, U.S. Department of Energy
11 November 2014 - 12:35PM
JCN Newswire (English)
To Conduct Demonstration Project for Grid Stabilization; Online
Testing of New System for Grid Control to Prevent Major Power
Outages
Hitachi, Ltd. (President & COO: Toshiaki Higashihara) and
Hitachi America, Ltd. (President & CEO: Masaya Watanabe) today
announced an agreement on joint research with the Bonneville Power
Administration (BPA) of the U.S. Department of Energy to continue
the development of a grid stabilization system.
The goal of the project is to develop and conduct PoC(1) testing of
an online demonstration system over the next 21 months, beginning
in October, with the cooperation of Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc.
(CEPCO). CEPCO is one of the major electric utility companies in
Japan, with much experience in development and use of a similar
comprehensive grid stabilization system(2). This new research
effort will focus on integrating phasor measurement units (PMU)(3)
data for tuning and validation of the calculated results.
In December 2012, Hitachi was selected by BPA to participate in its
fiscal year 2013 Technology Innovation R&D program for a
research project entitled, "Research into Grid Stabilization
Systems to Facilitate Introduction of Renewable Energy." That
project was completed in February.
The North American electricity market in recent years has seen
growing use of renewable energy from sources such as wind and
photovoltaic power generation, which produce variable output. The
joint research project was prompted by the growing effects that
renewable energy may impose on the grid as it becomes a larger
proportion of the total power generated.
In particular, conventional grid control schemes may not adjust
quickly enough as the amount of variable renewable energy grows.
Variable renewables can cause fluctuations in voltage, current and
frequency, and have the potential to degrade power quality,
potentially resulting in major outages. With greater integration of
variable renewable energy sources likely in the future, this
creates a need to investigate new grid stabilization systems.
Based on the concepts developed by Hitachi in the past research
project, the new project will use data collected from the grid in
real time to conduct PoC testing of the new grid stabilization
system as a grid control technology for preventing large outages
caused by phenomena such as the flow-on effects of grid faults. The
system was developed by combining grid analysis techniques and
information technology with PMU, which are widely adopted in the
United States. It will be installed at a BPA research facility and
operated in parallel with online systems to investigate possible
reliability improvements, economic benefits and viability for
practical implementation.
Hitachi has a history of supplying switchgear, transformers, and
other power distribution products to BPA. By strengthening its ties
with BPA through its involvement in this new project, Hitachi aims
to implement a new comprehensive grid stabilization system for
overcoming the challenges faced by grids, and also to achieve the
practical utilization and wider adoption of renewable energy.
Notes:
(1) Proof of Concept (PoC): Demonstrating the ability to implement
a new concept, theory, or principle. PoC testing aims to verify the
practicality of the most important ideas embodied by the
concept.
(2) Comprehensive grid stabilization system: A comprehensive
protection and control system for wide-area grids that maintains
stability, frequency, and voltage at a suitable level to ensure a
reliable supply of electric power. The system performs the control
operations required to stabilize the grid in the event of a grid
accident. Hitachi develops comprehensive grid stabilization systems
that incorporate computer systems.
(3) Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU): A measurement device used for
power grid analysis. PMUs measure power flow parameters (phasor
information) such as location, voltage, and current in real
time.
About Bonneville Power Administration, U.S. Department of
Energy
The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), headquartered in
Portland, Ore., is a nonprofit federal power marketing agency under
the U.S. Department of Energy that sells wholesale renewable
hydropower from federal dams in the Columbia Basin and operates
three-quarters of the high-voltage transmission lines in the
Northwest. BPA also pursues breakthroughs that can increase
efficiencies, solves operational challenges and reduce costs - all
of which help maintain affordable, reliable electric power for the
Northwest and lessen impacts to the environment. www.bpa.gov.
About Hitachi
Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, delivers
innovations that answer society's challenges with our talented team
and proven experience in global markets. The company's consolidated
revenues for fiscal 2013 (ended March 31, 2014) totaled 9,616
billion yen ($93.4 billion). Hitachi is focusing more than ever on
the Social Innovation Business, which includes infrastructure
systems, information & telecommunication systems, power
systems, construction machinery, high functional materials &
components, automotive systems, healthcare and others. For more
information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at
http://www.hitachi.com.
Source: Hitachi
Contact:
Hitachi Ltd
Corporate Communications
Tel: +81-3-3258-1111
Copyright 2014 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.japancorp.net
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