Revamping the grid is no small challenge. In fact, the grid could see more changes in the coming years than it has seen since the days of Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. However, since we’ve relied so long on the grid to get along with outdated technology, updating it will likely require $2 trillion in total investment over the next two decades. It’s a big number, but cost shouldn’t overshadow the need for a flexible grid that is a platform for innovation, prosperity and energy security, all while continuing to provide reliable and affordable electricity.
We believe that building this smarter, cleaner, and more resilient energy grid poses a great opportunity to create something that will have a profound impact on our day-to-day lives. In fact, so many believe in the opportunity, that a team has already been assembled involving unprecedented levels of national collaboration. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Modernization Laboratory Consortium has brought together 14 national labs and nearly 70 experts to identify the challenges and create the solutions for grid modernization.
Consortium members are working with DOE to develop a five-year program plan that outlines an integrated approach to grid modernization across DOE’s offices of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and Energy Policy and Systems Analysis, consistent with the Quadrennial Energy Review released in April. DOE plans to use this single strategy and annual program plan to determine its entire grid R&D portfolio of activities, informed by the consortium’s work.
In addition to delivering advances in grid-related technology, knowledge and tools, the national labs will play a key role in engaging their respective regional stakeholders. The labs will conduct technology demonstrations, co-funded by industry, to help push innovations from the laboratory bench to the market. Coordination among labs ensures that intellectual and scientific assets deliver maximum impact for the research dollar.