With over 300 remote communities whose reliance on diesel power results in some of the highest energy costs in the nation, Alaska has a strong interest in improving the performance of both new and existing systems. To address this need, ACEP has established the Power Systems Integration Lab for testing hardware and software components within an integrated grid system.
The Power Systems Integration Lab operates on the same scale as a village power system and has the ability to be modified for individual test scenarios. The lab transforms a potentially chaotic field testing environment into a continuously improving process for optimizing efficiencies.
Designed for maximum flexibility, this system is capable of testing a wide range of islanded microgrid and distributed generation scenarios, as well as the performance of individual components. Examples include next-generation utility energy storage such as innovative battery systems and flywheel technology, diesel-off operation, power electronics development, and testing, and model verification.