Casa Pueblo and ORNL partnered to install a state-of-the-art microgrid, serving as a community resiliency center, a hub for workforce development, and a testing ground for ORNL's advanced network microgrid technologies. Credit: Casa Pueblo
Microgrids are standalone energy systems capable of operating independently or in conjunction with the main power grid. These storage-equipped systems use local renewable energy sources to deliver reliable power to customers. ORNL researchers are further expanding these benefits by making microgrids more resilient by linking them and managing them as an automated network. This enables microgrids to support each other when one is damaged and to sustain electrical service to vital community functions. Networked microgrids also increase system efficiency by managing energy surpluses, providing redundant back-up, and expanding microgrid electrical boundaries to cover customers without electricity. These benefits extend the time the microgrid can operate in isolation and reduce the cost of electricity for participating microgrids.
Researcher Max Ferrari runs the ORNL-developed microgrid orchestrator technology to manage power flow between two linked microgrids in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. Credit: Casa Pueblo.
Researchers at ORNL, in collaboration with partner universities, have developed a suite of technologies to enable the resilient operation of networked microgrids. These include advances in protection, forecasting, optimization, and controls systems validated in the laboratory.
The centerpiece of this effort is a novel DC-interlink that addresses key challenges in coordinated networked microgrid operation. The DC-interlink was validated both in the laboratory and during field testing through a collaborative project focused on solar-based microgrids in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. The mountain town, which lost power for many months after Hurricane Maria in 2017, presented a case study of the value and function of networked microgrids for providing enhanced community resiliency at the grid edge, where only limited pathways exist for electricity to reach customers.
The Adjuntas community gathered in December 2024 to celebrate the inauguration of the Resiliency Center Microgrid, marking a milestone in the project and in community access to power during outages. Credit: Maximiliano Ferrari/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
ORNL worked closely with the Adjuntas community to demonstrate the lab’s technology for management of networked microgrids. The project involved key partnerships with:
- Casa Pueblo, a local nonprofit organization
- The Honnold Foundation, an international nonprofit
- Universities including the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; the University of Central Florida; and the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez
An important outcome of the project was the installation of a new microgrid, developed in collaboration with Casa Pueblo, designed to function as a community resiliency center during natural disasters.
Energy storage units at the community plaza hold excess electricity generated from microgrid solar panels for later use. Credit: Max Ferrari/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
ORNL researchers conducted a field demonstration showing the orchestrator can be used to jointly manage the new microgrid as a unit with Casa Pueblo’s existing microgrid. Casa Pueblo can choose to activate the orchestrator so the microgrids support each other after damage, providing community members with access to electricity for charging life-supporting medical and communications equipment. The new microgrid will also serve as a living laboratory to showcase ORNL’s innovative microgrid solutions, provide a hub for training, and build the local workforce.
This collaborative project has delivered innovative software and hardware technologies, as well as insights that are vital to strengthening the resiliency of critical infrastructure in Adjuntas and other rural communities. ORNL’s microgrid orchestrator technology is now being evaluated for commercialization by New Sun Road, a U.S. public benefit corporation that provides microgrid controls and energy management for applications including disaster relief, commercial and agricultural facilities, and community- or utility-owned microgrids in more than 20 countries.