ACEP Partners with AVEC on Grid Bridging System

Research Engineer Jeremy Vandermeer recently worked with Alaska Village Electric Cooperative (AVEC) on the first phase of a Grid Bridging System (GBS) project that will help increase the penetration of renewables in remote village power grids.

 The partnership develops the specifications required for this system which is envisioned to be a small energy storage system with an active front-end inverter. The GBS is intended to increase the utilization of renewable energy and decrease the size of required diesel generators.

 The installation and controls of the GBS should be similar to that of a diesel generator, making it simple to install and operate for plant operators accustomed to diesel generators.

 Vandermeer is working on a software tool that will allow AVEC to size systems to their village electric grids. A more general version of the tool will be released as an open-source product.

 The Grid Bridging System is a part of the Alaska Hub for Energy Innovation and Deployment (AHEID) funded by the Office of Naval Research.

Photo: Wind turbines in Chevak, an AVEC community.  Photo by Jeremy Vandermeer/ACEP.