The Bonneville Power Administration has partnered with the clean energy research consortium Oregon BEST in a new academic prize program to promote projects that support the development of innovative solutions to the challenges faced by the Northwest’s electric grid.
At a program kickoff event earlier this month, the prizewinners from the initial participating schools — Oregon State University, Oregon Institute of Technology, Portland State University and Washington State University Vancouver — formed three inter-university teams and picked study topics.
A team of students from Oregon Institute of Technology and WSUV will study distributed generation modeling. A second team made up of students from OSU and PSU will work on the optimization of hybrid electrical systems tied to climate modeling. A third team from OSU and PSU will study synchrophasor data. Synchrophasors transmit precise current, frequency and voltage readings, giving operators a broad view of the power system.
The next round of awards is scheduled to be handed out in October.
