PNNL joins with industry for a better electric grid

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has joined with National Grid, a leading U.S. transmission company, to collaborate on electric grid modernization and energy storage technologies research.

“A reliable and resilient electric grid is critical to our national and economic security,” said Steven Ashby, director of the Department of Energy national lab in Richland.

PNNL will work with National Grid on how to best integrate new technologies, like energy storage, onto the grid

The collaboration will work to improve grid reliability and resiliency in the face of severe weather events, cyber threats, a changing mix and types of electric generation, and the aging of the electricity infrastructure, Ashby said.

The agreement reached between PNNL and National Grid could lead to cooperative research opportunities, joint workshops, lectures, symposia and other forums that promote education and industrial development.

The partnership stems from participation in a DOE government/industry roundtable during the 2017 Earth Day Texas (EDTx) Expo and Conference. Energy Secretary Rick Perry sought to bring senior energy, utility and investment executives together with lab leadership to explore potential areas of collaboration.

This story was originally published November 23, 2017 at 2:46 PM with the headline "PNNL joins with industry for a better electric grid."