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Microgrid Infrastructure for Critical Service Resilience

Solution Overview

This initiative enhances the resilience of Nashville's infrastructure through innovative microgrid systems and self-contained electrical networks designed to safeguard critical services during extreme weather events.[1] The approach integrates distributed energy resources like microgrids, including solar PV, to enhance the reliability and resilience of the grid.[6] Using the frameworks and methodologies developed through this project, the city of Nashville and other communities nationwide will have a proven blueprint to achieve energy security and resilience amid escalating climate events.[6]

Technical Components

The simulated scenarios included adding a front-of-meter microgrid consisting of 500 kW of solar and 4 MWh of storage.[2] The project simulated the effects of deploying microgrids in about six different sizes.[2] The ARCHER project uses advanced modeling, interactive dashboards, and a new resilience metric to help cities figure out where to place distributed energy resources (DER), like solar panels and battery storage, for the biggest impact.[3] The interactive dashboards developed through the ARCHER project, utilizing the proven L&T-Spark™ platform, provide a cohesive solution for integrating utility and community data, thus enabling enhanced decision-making for utility operators.[4] These dashboards were designed to integrate utility and community data to support real-time decision-making.[5] The ARCHER interactive dashboards offer a unified solution for integrating utility and community data, enabling advanced real-time situational awareness and enhanced decision-making for utility system operators.[6]

Implementation Details

The ARCHER project is led by EPRI in partnership with TSU, TVA, NES, and the City of Nashville.[3] A research project involving NES, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Tennessee State University (TSU), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the city of Nashville examined what would have happened if NES deployed a solar-plus-storage microgrid that served critical services identified by community members.[2] The project was funded with a $1 million planning grant from the federal Department of Energy (DOE).[2] Nashville Electric Service (NES) has funding in its budget set aside for resilience projects to help pay for a microgrid that the DOE estimates will cost $70 million to $100 million.[2] As part of the ARCHER project, TSU established a Community Resilience Advisory Board (CRAB) composed of influential leaders in the North Nashville community to gather insights on which community assets should be prioritized for energy resilience, infrastructure hardening, and power restoration following outages.[4] Project participants recruited community leaders in Nashville–representing businesses, houses of worship and local organizations–to join a study group, called the Community Resiliency Advisory Board–that met monthly for 3 years to identify the critical services they thought should continue operating during an outage.[2] On May 30, Tennessee State University partnered with local and federal organizations to conduct a virtual simulation of the March 2020 Nashville tornado.[4] On the last day of May, a diverse group of collaborators gathered at Tennessee State University (TSU) campus in Nashville for a virtual simulation of the 2020 tornado that tore through the city to test how microgrids, localized energy systems powered by renewables like solar, can keep essential services running when disaster strikes.[3]

Climate Adaptation Relevance

This approach addresses the impacts of extreme weather events that cause prolonged power outages and infrastructure damage. In 2020, a tornado hit Nashville Electric Service's (NES) territory, downing 972 poles and sparking an outage that lasted nine days in certain areas.[2] The March 2020 tornado caused significant destruction in North Nashville, which is home to TSU, leading to extended power outages for many residents.[4]

[1]: Citation from document 1 [2]: Citation from document 2 [3]: Citation from document 3 [4]: Citation from document 4 [5]: Citation from document 5 [6]: Citation from document 6

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