I-Corps: Assessing the Challenges of Energy Systems and Evaluating the Suitability of Mobile Energy Storage Transmission

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是改善岛屿社区的电力供应，并在自然灾害发生后以具有成本效益的方式恢复沿海能源系统。与大陆地区相比，电网薄弱地区和岛屿社区通常难以获得负担得起的，有弹性的清洁能源解决方案。自然灾害的频率和严重程度正在增加;有复原力和灵活的电力供应系统比以往任何时候都更加重要，特别是对岛屿社区而言。作出有效的恢复决定涉及不同的能源系统备灾战略，可以大大改善由此产生的经济和社区影响。该项目将通过一项新技术，即移动的能源储存传输，向岛屿社区有效传输能源。最近的能量存储技术的成本，尺寸和性能的改进导致了这种创新技术的技术经济可行性。MEST的实施将改善岛屿社区的长期能源供应，并为短期危机提供可快速部署，灵活，负担得起和有弹性的电力输送系统。教育、科学和技术的出现与岛屿能源系统的日益重要性相吻合;随着海平面上升，岛屿国家继续发展，并强调可持续能源系统的发展，未来几十年将成为一个高增长的市场。I-Corps项目的研究结果确定了解决基础设施系统之间相互依赖性的重大挑战，特别是，关于能源系统在其他基础设施和社区灾后恢复过程中发挥的作用。拟议的调查涉及基础设施网络的复原力与多行业影响之间缺失的联系，以更有效地指导备灾和恢复决策。该项目将评估教育、科学和技术在岛屿社区的具体应用，以弥补传统电缆传输的不足。虽然陆上电缆传输是一种高效且低成本的电力运输模式，但海底电缆传输成本高昂，并且通常导致电力供应冗余度较差。这种新型的传输模式由商用组件组成，使用电池和传统的货运将电力从一个市场转移到另一个市场;提供与海底电缆互连器相称的服务，但增加了传统电网级储能系统的灵活性，弹性和许多好处。MEST建立在既定的经济理论、储能技术和各种市场数据的基础上。研究表明，教育、科学和技术在长期岛屿供电和短期救灾方面都具有潜力。这些发现的结合表明了一个充满希望的未来的影响和商业化的MEST后，这个I-Corps项目。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得的支持，通过评估使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to improve electricity access for island communities and enable cost-effective restoration of coastal energy systems following natural disasters. Grid-weak regions and island communities typically have poor access to affordable, resilient, and clean energy solutions compared to their mainland counterparts. The frequency and severity of natural disasters is increasing; resilient and flexible electricity supply systems are more critical than ever, especially for island communities. Making effective recovery decisions addresses the different strategies of preparedness for energy systems and can drastically improve resulting economic and community impacts. This project will enable the efficient transmission of energy to island communities through a new technology, mobile energy storage transmission (MEST). The recent improvements of energy storage technology cost, size, and performance have resulted in technoeconomic feasibility of this innovative technology. Implementation of MEST will both improve long-term energy access for island communities and provide rapidly-deployable, flexible, affordable, and resilient electricity delivery systems for short-term crises. The advent of MEST coincides with the increasing importance of island energy systems; a market earmarked for high-growth over coming decades as sea levels rise, island nations continue to develop, and emphasis is put on development of sustainable energy systems.This I-Corps project is based on findings which identified a significant challenge in addressing the interdependency between infrastructure systems, in particular, pertaining to the role that energy systems play in the disaster recovery process of other infrastructures and communities. The proposed investigation addresses a missing link between resilience of infrastructure networks and multi-industry impacts to more effectively guide preparedness and recovery decisions. This project will evaluate scenario-specific applications of MEST for island communities; complementing the shortcomings of conventional cabled transmission. While on-shore cabled transmission is an efficient and low-cost mode of transporting electricity, subsea cabled transmission is costly and often results in poor redundancy of electricity supply. This novel transmission model, comprised of commercially available components, uses batteries and conventional freight transportation to move electricity from one market to another; providing service commensurate to a subsea cabled interconnector, but with added flexibility, resilience, and many benefits of traditional grid-level energy storage systems. MEST is founded on established economic theory, energy storage technology, and various market data. Research indicates potential for MEST in both long-term island power provision and short-term disaster relief. The combination of these findings indicates a promising future for impact and commercialization of MEST following this I-Corps project.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.