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Grid Reconfigurations of Underlying Topology for Efficiency and Reliability (GRID ROUTER)
NewGrid is a software firm in the utilities industry focused on improving the performance of electricity transmission infrastructure. NewGrid’s topology optimization software and engineering support services enable system operators, utilities, and power market participants to reduce transmission grid congestion while enhancing reliability and resilience. Our team is made of engineers, software developers, and economists with decades of experience commercializing innovative solutions for power system operations and electricity market analysis. With DOE ARPA-E support, NewGrid led the first team to ever produce security-constrained topology re-configurations on large-scale systems automatically, with short calculation times acceptable to system operators. NewGrid is a member of Greentown Labs, the largest cleantech startup incubator in the United States, and a founding member of the WATT coalition of advanced transmission technology companies.
NewGrid develops software for electric power transmission operators to minimize congestion by routing power around congested areas, thus increasing grid utilization. Routing is achieved by reconfiguring the grid through switching of existing high voltage circuit breakers. NewGrid’s software enables reductions in the cost of electricity to consumers (up to $1 billion annually U.S. wide), eases renewables integration by avoiding curtailment (10%+ increase in large interface transfer capability), and improves reliability, resilience and operational control of the grid (75% reduction in intervals with constraint violations). This ARPA-E SCALEUP project proposal is to deploy and use NewGrid technology at scale working with transmission industry partners and power market participants. The project is crucial for the commercial success of topology optimization technology, as it will help overcome three significant adoption barriers: utility risk aversion, lack of incentives for operational efficiency, and misalignment between risks and rewards for market participants. By overcoming these challenges, the project will act as a market enabler for better transmission infrastructure, which will benefit both industry stakeholders and the US economy at large.
We are looking for commercialization and financial partners to provide LOIs. Our ideal partners are transmission asset owners, regional transmission organizations including ERCOT, SPP, MISO, PJM, ISO-NE, and NYISO, and wholesale power market participants.
Contact Information:
Pablo Ruiz
CEO
NewGrid