Smart Grid Control Room Lab

Since 2012 the Smart Grid Center of Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Service (TEES) galvanizes a number of smart grid-related activities that are underway in the A&M System and brings them under a coordinated umbrella to form partnerships essential for smart grid research, education and training. These partnerships are funded through various projects in excess of more than $10 million over the next five years. The Center aims to expand on its broad range of capabilities and expertise in seven key smart grid areas: Electricity Transmission/Distribution and Production/Consumption; Advanced Data Analytics for Outage Prediction, Clean Energy Enabling Technologies; Electrified Transportation System; The Built Environment; Computer Information Services; Energy-related Markets; and High Impact, Low Frequency Event Grid Contingencies. They all come together to create an integrated infrastructure able to handle the growing power demands of residential, corporate, and public needs ranging from smart homes and plug-in electric vehicles to distribution intelligence and operation centers. A large-scale testbed facility with a smart grids control center is hosted at the Center for Infrastructure (CIR) on the RELLIS campus of Texas A&M. The SGC works with many highly qualified and experienced faculty at Texas A&M including several members of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and two former Presidents of the IEEE Power and Energy Society.

Specific goals are to:

• Assist expanding the government and private sector vision of the smart grid;
• Conduct transformational research to generate new concepts, technologies and integrated systems for the 21st century grid;
• Train engineering students and professionals in electric energy-related concepts and technologies.

Other objectives involve:

• Studying public policy implications;
• Initiating and supporting international collaborative programs;
• Developing partnerships for smart grid research;
• Providing unbiased advice to industry, government and the public related to electric energy production, transport and consumption, and smart grid matters.

Achieving these goals and objectives will position the Texas A&M University System and the State of Texas as global leaders in education, research, and public service in the modernization of the electricity system, leading to job creation and increasing business opportunities for Texas and the nation.