Transforming our Nation's Energy System, Energy Systems Integration Facility

Aug. 26, 2013
The Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) on the campus of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will soon be the nation's first facility that can conduct integrated megawatt-scale testing of the components and strategies needed in order to safely move clean energy technologies onto the electrical grid 'in-flight' at the speed and scale required to meet national goals.

With all the benefits associated with renewable energy, why hasn’t the grid already been modernized to accommodate these clean sources of energy? The short answer is: Megawatt-scale integration is hard to find.

Our nation’s existing power grid is crucial to our way of life and cannot be shut down, overhauled, and started back up again. Yet, critical to moving clean energy technologies onto the electrical grid is the ability to carry out research, development, and megawatt-scale testing of the complex integrated systems, devices, and concepts of future electric supply and demand systems.

The Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) on the campus of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, will soon be the na - tion’s first facility that can conduct integrated megawatt-scale research and development of the components and strategies needed in order to safely move clean energy technologies onto the electrical grid “in-flight” at the speed and scale required to meet national goals...(Read more...)

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