Greentech Lead America: Alstom Grid announced that
it has been selected by Maui Electric Company (MECO) for Smart Grid
demonstration project.
Alstom Grid will provide
its e-terradistribution Integrated Distribution Management System
(IDMS) to the project. This project is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy
and is co-led by the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute at the University of
Hawaii.
The demonstration project will evaluate how smart grid
technologies can help MECO reduce peak demand, improve service quality, inform
consumer energy use decisions, and integrate renewable energy.
“By deploying new distribution and home automation
technologies, MECO will gain hands-on experience in maintaining grid
reliability that is invaluable as the state transitions to a cleaner energy
future,” said Karim El Naggar, vice president of Alstom’s Network
Management Solutions business.
Technologies such as advanced metering infrastructure,
home area networks, and battery energy storage were tested in the project.
Alstom’s IDMS suite of smart
distribution applications will integrate information from the smart grid
network to improve monitoring and control of MECO’s distribution system and
distributed energy resources (DER).
“The Maui Smart Grid demonstration project is a
critical component to reducing our state’s dependence on imported oil,
integrating more clean energy and improving the service we provide to our
customers,” said Maui Electric Company’s President Ed Reinhardt.
Maui Electric Company reckons that Alstom’s IDMS
applications will play a significant role in helping their customer volunteers
experience first-hand the benefits of a smarter power distribution system.
Alstom’s IDMS suite of smart distribution applications
will be deployed to improve grid self-healing, power quality and energy
efficiency for enhanced customer satisfaction.
Furthermore, the IDMS platform will be integrated with
smart grid data to provide MECO’s dispatchers with enhanced visibility into
their distribution grid operations and control over distributed energy
resources.