Maui Electric Co. Implements Integrated Distribution Management System

May 10, 2012
Alstom Grid has been selected to provide its e-terradistribution Integrated Distribution Management System for Maui Electric Co.’s smart grid demonstration project.

Alstom Grid has been selected to provide its e-terradistribution Integrated Distribution Management System (IDMS) for Maui Electric Co.’s (MECO) smart grid demonstration 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. Some of the technologies tested in the project include advanced metering infrastructure, home area networks, and battery energy storage. 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.

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. 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.

The Maui Smart Grid Project is evaluating smart grid technologies that can help Maui Electric Co. and its customers reduce peak energy demand, improve service quality, inform consumer energy use decisions, and integrate renewable energy. This demonstration project will use distribution circuits in South Maui and up to 200 customer volunteers that can receive in-home smart grid technologies. The project is funded by the US DOE Renewable and Distributed Systems Integration (RDSI) program and is part of a nationwide set of demonstration projects. Data from the Maui project will be compared with results of similar initiatives to inform future smart grid decision making.

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