DOE Boosts FSU’s Grid Research Efforts

The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) awarded Florida State University (FSU) a $4.7 million grant in late 2005 to aid the research efforts of the school’s Center for Advanced Power Systems (CAPS).

CAPS is already a leading power-system research center, focusing on both land- and ship-based equipment and systems. Its mission is to develop a multidiscipline program for graduate and undergraduate education in power systems engineering; to develop research programs; to foster partnerships among industry, government and academia; and to identify “dual use” opportunities for state-of-the-art technology.

The center is a joint effort of FSU and the Florida A&M University / FSU School of Engineering .

Researchers at the center will use the grant to fund research conducted in collaboration with scientists at Sandia National Labs in four key areas:

• Advanced simulation development, drawing on the nation’s most powerful university-based power-system simulator, which is located at the university’s Tallahassee campus. The real-time simulator’s capabilities will be expanded with the new DOE funding.

• New technology insertion, to help understand and resolve the issues that can arise when new technologies, such as reactive-power and power-flow control devices, are introduced into an existing transmission and distribution system. Work also will cover the effects of distributed generation and microgrids on overall system reliability.

• High-temperature superconductivity, to better understand AC-based power-system losses and insulation behavior related to this technology.

• System security, protection and control to improve security of the computer control systems operating today’s power systems.

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