| NSF Org: |
OIA OIA-Office of Integrative Activities |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | September 14, 2018 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | February 16, 2024 |
| Award Number: | 1757207 |
| Award Instrument: | Cooperative Agreement |
| Program Manager: |
Chinonye Nnakwe
cwhitley@nsf.gov (703)292-8458 OIA OIA-Office of Integrative Activities O/D Office Of The Director |
| Start Date: | September 15, 2018 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2024 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $20,000,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $20,000,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2019 = $8,200,305.00 FY 2020 = $4,098,150.00 FY 2022 = $3,768,184.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1 UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO ALBUQUERQUE NM US 87131-0001 (505)277-4186 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
1312 Basehart SE - MSC04 2815 Albuquerque NM US 87131-0001 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
EPSCoR RII: Track-1, EPSCoR Research Infrastructure |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001819DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001920DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002223DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.083 |
ABSTRACT
Non-technical Description
The American power grid requires modernization to serve the increased electrical needs of the public. The goal of this project is to create a new interdisciplinary research center leading to a Sustainable, Modular, Adaptive, Resilient, and Transactive (SMART) next-generation electric grid. NM EPSCoR will establish a SMART Grid Center to address the power, communication, and control needs of the electrical distribution network. The goal is to provide consumers the ability to decide how to generate, store, and manage energy on the existing electricity distribution infrastructure. The Center will align with the New Mexico State Science & Technology Plan?s focus on technology development to ensure energy stability, security, resilience, and sustainability for the State. It will also support the development of a well-trained STEM workforce for New Mexico, the hiring and retention of new faculty, and an increase in diversity at all levels.
Technical Description
The New Mexico SMART Grid Center will transform the existing electricity distribution infrastructure by holistically incorporating microgrid optimization, operations optimization, microgrid controls, and tariff and customer behavior in the design and demonstration of interconnected Distribution Feeder Microgrids (DFMs). With simulation studies and field validations, the research team aims to demonstrate that the DFM-based architecture: 1) is optimally suited to sustainably accommodate the emerging trends in electricity generation, storage, and utilization; 2) is flexible and can be adapted to various geographic and socioeconomic conditions; 3) can be interwoven with a secure and robust communications and controls infrastructure; 4) is more resilient than alternative options; and 5) enables new business models and continued innovation in the delivery of energy services. Building on existing expertise and infrastructures, the SMART Grid Center will develop new technologies, protocols, models, and algorithms for the future electric grid that can be broadly applied to future socio-cyber-physical systems, the Internet-of-Things, smart cities research and deployments, big data applications, and coordination in multi-agent systems. This project will coalesce ongoing independent studies and field validations across New Mexico under a unified, well-integrated, interdisciplinary program that includes academia, national laboratories, and industry.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The New Mexico SMART Grid Center (SMART Grid Center) investigated the fundamental challenges to transform existing electricity transmission and distributed energy infrastructure into a SMART (Sustainable, Modular, Adaptive, Resilient, Transactive) grid. Our mission was accomplished by developing research capacity and education programs to support a modern electricity grid, building on the principles of Distribution Feeder Microgrids with a focus on architecture, networking, decision-support, and deployment, and by empowering a future workforce through industry partnership, education, and public outreach. Primary project partners included: University of New Mexico (UNM), New Mexico State University (NMSU), New Mexico Tech (NMT), Santa Fe Community College (SFCC), and Explora Science Center (Explora).
The SMART Grid Center reported significant outputs and outcomes in the following areas:
Research Competitiveness. Project investigators garnered more than $108 million in extramural funding. Five project-supported faculty received NSF CAREER Awards. NM EPSCoR hosted two cohorts of early career trainees (postdocs and early career faculty) for three-day workshops covering professional and project management skills, and one cohort of postdocs who gained sci comm competencies. NM EPSCoR State Office hosted webinars about the EPSCoR Fellowship program and mentored applicants; a record number of 7 Fellowships were awarded in 2024.
Education and Workforce Development. A total of 117 graduate students, 79 undergraduate students, and 9 postdoctoral scholars were supported through the project. More than 400 people participated in intensive workshops in Data Carpentry, Library Carpentry, or Software Carpentry; 43 Carpentry instructors were trained. Santa Fe Community College created two new certificates and four courses to train smart and microgrid professionals.
Broadening Participation. Of the 293 project participants, 50% identified as female or from an underrepresented minority group. Seventy-nine percent of students from our summer undergraduate research program identified as female or from an underrepresented minority group. More than 20,000 people were reached through outreach activities, and 47 educational toolkits were distributed to teachers, educators, and librarians across New Mexico.
Communication and Dissemination. Project partners published more than 230 peer-reviewed publications in 178 journals. Outreach partner Explora hosted 27 Meet-a-Scientist events for middle and high school students. The Empower New Mexico Communities Town Hall engaged a diverse group of stakeholders to develop 11 recommendations for an equitable energy transition in New Mexico, some of which resulted in legislation and funding in 2024.
Research Infrastructure. Nine new faculty were hired to work on SMART Grid research and education across four different institutions (NMT, NMSU, SFCC, and UNM). Infrastructure investments in the Mesa del Sol microgrid (UNM) and the IDEAL Center (NMSU) will provide robust testbeds for future research. Fourteen seed awards were made to investigators at six different institutions.
Last Modified: 11/25/2024
Modified by: Selena Connealy
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