Nine Japanese companies have launched a smart grid demonstration project in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
As part of the Japan-US Collaborative Smart Grid Demonstration Project, the nine companies – Shimizu Corporation, Toshiba Corporation, Sharp Corporation, Meidensha Corporation, Tokyo Gas, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Fuji Electric, Furukawa Electric, and Furukawa Battery – will work on the Albuquerque Business District Smart Grid Demonstration Project for a period of two years.
US companies, including regional utility firm, Public Service Company of New Mexico, Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and the University of New Mexico will also participate.
To carry out the research, an existing three-story commercial building, which has a floor space of around 7,000 square meters and an electric power load near 400 kilowatts (kW) will be used. In a statement released by Mitsubishi, it was said that a micro grid consisting of a 50 kW photovoltaic power generation system, a 240 kW gas-engine generator, 80 kW fuel cells and a 90 kW battery system have been installed to supply power from the demand side.
“By controlling each of these power generation systems, the demonstration study will (1) perform demand and supply adjustment within the building based on requests from a commercial electric utility supplier, (2) operate the power generation systems according to energy and heat demand within the building itself, and (3) compensate for power output fluctuations in the PV power generation system of the regional utility company,” continued the statement.
A project implementation agreement was signed with NEDO last August. Since then, the equipment has been installed and adjusted at the building site. With regards to the photovoltaic component, the Meidensha Corporation will reportedly design and procure the power control system, and verify its performance.
