DNV GL to validate edge-of network management of solar, energy storage in Hawaii’s USD 2.4 million DOE project
DNV GL, the world’s largest resource of independent energy experts and certification, will serve as accreditor of performance for a federally funded project at Hawaiian Electric Company demonstrating the ability of a grid management solution to deliver on-demand solar energy with energy storage.
As Hawaiian Electric advances toward the goal of 100 percent renewable energy by 2045, the $2.4 million SunShot SHINES project, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), will use SEAMS (System to Edge-of-Network Architecture and Management for SHINES) to show the feasibility of managing a high proliferation of distributed energy resources (DER) across the utility’s power grid.
Dora Nakafuji, Hawaiian Electric director of renewable energy planning, said, “We see DNV GL’s global expertise in certification and validation of complex distributed energy resources as providing vital insights to inform our continued growth of reliable, affordable renewable energy for our customers.”
DNV GL Solar Segment Director Ray Hudson said, “The Hawaiian Electric project aims to demonstrate management of and the optimal mix of solar plus energy storage with a target of maintaining a levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of less than 14 cents per kWh.”
The DOE website described the project’s approach: “Using the SEAMS approach, an interdisciplinary team will design and demonstrate new energy management system logics to ‘see and interface’ with distribution-system level, customer-hosted electricity resources.” Essentially, this would provide visibility and access for the utility, allowing them to monitor and use solar PV resources on consumers’ rooftops or wherever they are located.
This project will enable proliferation of a reliable base of SHINES (PV and storage) distributed technologies that offer more plug-and-play customer options for grid participation, and provide cost-effective “grid response” capabilities to system operators.
Hawaiian Electric’s award from SHINES is part of the DOE’s Grid Modernization Initiative, which aims to accelerate the strategic modernization of the U.S. electric power grid and solve the challenges of integrating conventional and renewable sources, while ensuring a resilient energy system combining energy storage with central and distributed generation.
