The Complexity Challenge: Create a Modern Grid for Distributed Energy Resources
Today’s system of electric grid management is broken. It is an overly complex network of interoperating control systems managed by independent, centralized control facilities. With millions of diverse and aging control devices, it is vulnerable to both cyber attack and chain-reaction outages. It doesn’t easily accommodate solar or other renewable power sources or newer technologies such as grid-connected batteries. We need a new distributed energy grid that can support smart electricity devices, leverage distributed energy resources and loads, and improve reliability and resiliency.
The Mission
The US Department of Energy (DOE) is in the midst of multiple projects to fix distributed energy resource control. It has contracted with Introspective Systems to build a computing architecture that can:
- Scale up clean energy with consumer participation and choice,
- Incorporate decentralized control,
- Allow two-way energy flows, and
- Provide increased reliability, security — cyber and physical — and resiliency.
The xGraph Advantage
xGraph’s executable graph framework is designed for dynamic complex systems. Here is how its breakthrough design makes it a perfect fit for distributed energy resource management:
- xGraph makes computing decisions as close to the edge as possible. This means that devices and control systems can respond on their own to demand and other situations without a centralized control system.
- Its fractal systems-of-systems implementation mirrors the architecture of an electric grid, enabling connectivity of many distributed energy resources.
- xGraph’s design emphasizes stability, cyber security, minimum latency, and localization of failure through edge-based collaboration.
- xGraph is infinitely adaptive, enabling grid architecture to evolve as technical improvements are developed and deployed.
xGraph in Action
When complete, the xGraph system will be fully decentralized, provide edge control, and enable parts of the grid to break away from the great grid at any level to create independent islands, improving security and reliability while limiting chain-reaction outages. It will accommodate multiple distributed energy resources, effortlessly blending traditional and renewable loads. The xGraph system will enable transactive energy management for real-time pricing that conserves resources and rewards efficient energy use.
