Episode 173 | Mini Microgrid | Idaho National Laboratory
Blackstarts are notoriously challenging to accomplish. How to you bring power back if nothing has power? Also, electric generation has to grid-form so that all generation matches up.
Idaho National Lab has developed a solution to bring blackstart capability to some of the most challenging power plants. In July, they unveiled their “Microgrid in a Box.” It’s a mobile container that can be rolled up to a power plant and facilitate this black start independently. This is often called an “islanded mode,” where the power doesn’t match anything else, at least until the disaster subsides.
“It’s basically like a fast response,” says Kurt Myers, Energy & Grid Systems Integration group lead for INL. “It helps with the stability of that small islanded system.”
They tested the MIB tested it at a hydroelectric plant near Felt, Idaho, about an hour south of Yellowstone National Park. This was important because hydroelectric, especially “run-of-river” plants like this do not have reservoirs to throttle power. The INL team was essentially taming a wild river to restore power.
While the MIB is designed for smaller plants, Kurt says larger power plants could use this technology by simply stacking MIBs in parallel. They see this technology being used at military installations, which can be multiple megawatts.
The MIB also serves as a test case for the increasing variability of the grid. If the MIB can regulate a small hydro plant, then it could also juggle a solar farm, rooftop residential solar and EV charging.
“The load-flow characteristics have changed dramatically from what they have been,” says Kurt. “The ability to control voltage, we’re going to need more assets like this and the advanced controls and coordination to be able to manage that kind of a system.”
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