Secure Scalable Microgrid Test Bed at Sandia National Laboratories

High penetration levels of stochastic renewable sources introduce variability into power systems that result in voltage and frequency regulation difficulties. As the cost of fossil fuels increase and governments mandate large renewable-energy portfolios, new engineering approaches will be necessary to compensate for this variable generation. Today renewable energy penetration levels are often limited by using curtailment, by installing additional fossil-fuel-based generation, or by installing expensive energy storage. Recent research focused on mitigating regulation challenges include: advanced sensing, storage, and controls. This paper introduces a new research facility at Sandia National Laboratories dedicated to the development of tools for designing and implementing adaptive, secure, scalable, microgrids with high penetration levels of stochastic renewables.