EPNES: A Holistic Approach to the Design and Management of a Secure and Efficient Distributed Generation Power System

这项研究将为设计和管理安全、高效和重组的电力公用事业系统的分布式发电(DG)技术奠定概念基础。我们的跨学科工作将由弗吉尼亚理工大学能源重组联盟的成员协调，将努力克服DG技术使用中的技术、业务和政策限制。工程研究人员将调查自适应保护和电力电子模块的使用，以实现安全可靠的运行。他们将研究修改系统运行的方法，以应对自然现象、恐怖袭击和负荷发电变化的威胁。商业研究人员将利用工程研究的结果，为可用于拥有DG资产的电网的新商业模式建立参数。社会科学研究人员将收集有关消费者和立法人员对DG系统的特征的信息，这些信息由他们的工程和商业同事定义。他们还将研究代表不足的群体，如低收入和农村公民，对DG技术的使用所持的关切。最后，他们将探索政府施加的限制和通过使用分布式发电技术可能带来的机会。协作工作将导致创建新的电网接口概念、商业模拟模型的框架，并详细说明如何构建安全高效的分布式发电电力系统的成功模型，其中包括技术、业务和政策方面的考虑。合作者还将为能源管理的一个次要研究领域制定大纲，以纳入本研究中提出的跨学科方法。

The research will create the conceptual foundation for designing and managing distributed generation (DG) technologies for a secure, efficient, and restructured electric utility system. Our interdisciplinary work, to be coordinated by members of Virginia Tech's Consortium on Energy Restructuring, will strive toward overcoming technical, business, and policy limitations in the use of DG technologies.Engineering researchers will investigate the use of adaptive protection and power electronics modules to enable secure and reliable operation. They will examine methods to modify system operation to deal with threats from natural phenomena, terrorist attacks, and load-generation changes.Business researchers will employ the engineering study's results to establish parameters for new business models that can be used in a power grid with DG assets. Social science investigators will gather information on consumer and legislative sentiments regarding characteristics of a DG system as defined by their engineering and business colleagues. They also will study concerns held by underrepresented groups, such as low-income and rural citizens, regarding the use of DG technologies. Finally, they will explore constraints imposed by government and opportunities made possible through the use of DG technologies.Collaborative work will lead to creation of new grid-interface concepts, a framework for a business simulation model, and documents detailing methods for fashioning successful models of secure and efficient DG power systems that incorporate technical, business, and policy considerations. The collaborators will also produce an outline for a minor field of study in energy management to incorporate the interdisciplinary approaches advanced in this research.