Alstom's Integrated Distribution Management System Selected For Maui Smart Grid Project
Alstom Grid, the global expert in electrical grid management systems, has been selected to provide its e-terradistribution Integrated Distribution Management System (IDMS) for Maui Electric Company’s (MECO) Smart Grid demonstration project (“Maui Smart Grid Project”). This project is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and is co-led by the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute at the University of Hawaii.
The demonstration project will evaluate how smart grid technologies can help MECO reduce peak demand, improve service quality, inform consumer energy use decisions, and integrate renewable energy. Some of the technologies tested in the project include advanced metering infrastructure, home area networks, and battery energy storage. Alstom’s IDMS suite of smart distribution applications will integrate information from the smart grid network to improve monitoring and control of MECO’s distribution system and distributed energy resources (DER).
"The Maui Smart Grid demonstration project is a critical component to reducing our state’s dependence on imported oil, integrating more clean energy and improving the service we provide to our customers," said Maui Electric Company’s President Ed Reinhardt. "Alstom's IDMS applications will play a significant role in helping our customer volunteers experience first-hand the benefits of a smarter power distribution system. We look forward to having the system up and running, and working with Alstom experts to make this demonstration project a successful best practice for similar initiatives across the country."
“Hawaii has set an ambitious goal of generating more than 70% of its electricity from clean and renewable sources by the year 2030,” commented Karim El Naggar, Vice President of Alstom’s Network Management Solutions business. “By deploying new distribution and home automation technologies, MECO will gain hands-on experience in maintaining grid reliability that is invaluable as the state transitions to a cleaner energy future. Alstom is proud of our role in this project in ushering in the era of a smarter and more reliable electric power grid.”
Alstom’s IDMS suite of smart distribution applications will be deployed to improve grid self-healing, power quality and energy efficiency for enhanced customer satisfaction. The IDMS platform will be integrated with smart grid data to provide MECO’s dispatchers with enhanced visibility into their distribution grid operations and control over distributed energy resources.
SOURCE: Alstom