Project Details
Principal Investigator
A next-generation, digital, communicative “smart” grid will require new operational and planning capabilities and substantial infrastructure investment over several decades to meet the country’s energy goals. To address these challenges, the Department of Energy has established the Grid Modernization Initiative. To address these challenges, the Department of Energy has established the Grid Modernization Initiative.
Through this effort, Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s (ORNL) Sustainable Electricity Program is working with industry and academia to modernize the electric grid through research and development focused on:
- Deploying low-cost sensors to monitor grid health
- Enhancing real-time visualizations and data analysis to isolate grid failures and quickly restore power
- Strengthening cybersecurity for a modern grid
- Hardening infrastructure with advanced conductivity
- Developing microgrid technologies that localize energy management
- Integrating and utilizing renewable energy more effectively
- Controlling power flows with advanced technologies
- Using unmanned aerial systems (UASs) to inform electric system restoration activities
Brochure: Grid Modernization
Fact Sheet: Grid Modernization
