The goals of this program are to develop new system applications to improve our utility customers’ ability to protect and control existing, as well as newly developing, electrical energy grids in a smart, economical and reliable way.
These applications leverage advances in utility automation to improve utility asset utilization, power quality and system reliability. The program interacts closely with the active grid infrastructure program in order to deliver input on system requirements for existing and new active power equipment that can help make power grids more controllable.
The program continues to develop new system solutions for distribution grid management, and substation and feeder automation, with specific emphasis on dynamically reconfigurable networks for enhanced system reliability. In the area of transmission grids, research continues on the topic of wide-area blackout prevention, extending the capabilities of network control and stability analysis.