The New Orleans solar project 

Electricity is essential in today’s world. The energy infrastructure that its assists delivery that must deal with hazards. Some of these hazards are severe weather and the cyber threat. Through the Grid Modernization Initiative, the Department of Energy (DOE) is continues to work with the public to create concepts and technologies to improve the resiliency of the network. This particular project is located in Louisiana. Robert Jeffers, a Principal Systems Scientist at Sandia National Laboratory, leads researchers from Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory operates with the city of New Orleans to strengthen its resilience to natural disasters. Since Hurricane Katrina, resilience is a prime focus for the city. 
 

Becoming more resilient under natural disasters

Under the “Grid Analysis and Design for Energy and Infrastructure Resiliency for New Orleans” project, the team worked with partners based upon consultation with offices within the municipal government to create what Jeffers calls “consequence-focused metrics.” Some of the partners include the Sewage and Water Board of New Orleans, the electric utility Entergy New Orleans, the US Army Corps of Engineers, and the 100 Resilient Cities Institute that aims to assist locations globally to become more resilient under extreme natural disasters.
 

Modernizing grid infrastructures to serve during power disruptions

As part of the Grid Modernization Laboratory Consortium (GMLC), this project’s role is to develop concepts and episodes learned that’s applicable to other places globally.  While New Orleans faces geographic issues due to low sea levels, Jeffers and his team are looking to potentially work with other cities across the country focused on resiliency, including Los Angeles, Dallas, Pittsburgh, and Norfolk, to analyze how they can modernize their own grid infrastructures to serve during power disruptions. The grid resilience investments target the quickest restoration services to customers. His team’s work aims on giving critical infrastructure services to as many people as possible during and after a storm.  “If you are talking with an emergency planner, they’re focused on getting people what they need in the immediate aftermath,” Jeffers said. “We ultimately focused heavily on tracking the number of people without critical infrastructure services in different categories, like clean water and shelter.” Investing in grid modernization to keep consequences minimal to communities involves understanding which lifeline services get the most benefit from improved power resilience. 

After the scoping phase, cost-effective choices for enhancing resiliency was created. The teams suggestions focused on advanced microgrids that disconnects from the traditional grid to operate independently, while assisting to mitigate grid disturbances to strengthen network resilience. Other recommendations from the team include automated reclosers and automated fault location, isolation, system recovery (FLISR) software, and localized backup generation. The team found groups of high-impact infrastructure, like emergency medical services and fuel stations. These assets could serve microgrids during a disruption. By having a reliable “Plan B”, citizens could receive services quicker. Partnerships are critical to this plan. 

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