Grid Planning and Economics

Grid Planning and Economics

The Grid Planning and Economics team develops a set of models and software solutions to support decisions around power systems planning, economics and grid policy.

Grid Planning & Power Distribution

Power system planning has become a challenging exercise that requires new methodologies and tools to help utilities prioritize grid investments. First, technology is transforming the edge of distribution systems, where customers are no longer seen as “static loads” with predictable growths; instead, they make individual decisions that affect the distribution grid, for example by actively changing their loads, reacting to prices and tariffs or adopting PV and storage technologies. Second, the electrification of important sectors of the economy and society (government, health, information, industry, etc.) has made power distribution vital for our communities, requiring the grid to be reliable and resilient in many uncertain scenarios.

Transportation, Connected, Energy and Power Concept

Our core applications include Multi-energy Microgrid Investment and Planning, Distributed Energy Sources (DER) adoption, Utility Rate Design, Resilient Distribution Grid Planning, Energy Communities and Market Clearing algorithms. The main modeling techniques include sitting and sizing methods applied to the distribution grid, optimal power flow (both at distribution and transmission levels), risk-constrained optimization, game theory and decision support models. 

Projects

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Risk-controlled Expansion Planning with distributed Resources (REPAIR)

The Risk-controlled Expansion Planning with Distributed Resources (REPAIR) model is building the foundational capabilities enabling risk-controlled decisions in utility grid planning to prevent and mitigate the impact of outages caused by regular equipment failures or by High Impact Low Probability (HILP) events, such as storms, earthquakes or wildfires that may cause longer term interruptions of service from the transmission system. Learn more –  Risk-controlled Expansion Planning with Distributed Resources (REPAIR)

Integrated Modeling Tool (IMT)

The Integrated Modeling Tool (IMT) captures the dynamic between consumers’ adoption of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), distribution grid planning and rate design, providing a unique modeling framework to support utility and regulatory decisions around electricity rate structures and cost recovery. Learn More – Integrated Modeling Tool (IMT)

Distributed Energy Resources Customer Adoption Model (DER-CAM)

The Distributed Energy Resources Customer Adoption Model (DER-CAM) is a powerful and comprehensive decision support tool that primarily serves the purpose of finding optimal distributed energy resource (DER) investments in the context of either buildings or multi-energy microgrids. This widely accepted and extensively peer-reviewed model has been developed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) since 2000, and can be used to find the optimal portfolio, sizing, placement, and dispatch of a wide range of DERs, while co-optimizing multiple stacked value streams that include load shifting, peak shaving, power export agreements or participation in ancillary service markets. Learn More – DER-CAM

Granada Living Lab

The Granada Living Lab is creating a technology demonstrator on top of a real energy grid infrastructure, open to the community of academics and innovators. The Grid Planning and Economics team is a key partner in this international effort, providing strategic guidance and developing the power system and market models that support the Living Lab platform. Learn More – turningtables.global/living-lab/

 

Contact

Miguel Heleno
Energy/Environmental Policy Staff Scientist/Engineer
510-486-6779