Island-mode Enhancement Strategies and Methodologies for Defense Critical Infrastructure

An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack could cause widespread outage of the commercial electric power system that could last for weeks to months. Microgrids for defense critical infrastructure (DCI) should thus be equipped to operate in islanded mode for extended periods of time using only local fuel storage and renewable energy sources. The primary difference between operating a microgrid in islanded mode for one hour vs. one month is the choice of energy sources. Therefore this effort approaches the problem primarily as an energy source optimization, with the goal of maximizing duration of islanded operation. A microgrid resiliency (MGR) software tool will be developed that will assess the resiliency and economic impact of different technology solutions as a function of the facility load requirements, local resources, geographic location, and length of time for stand-alone operation. This effort will investigate the robustness of microgrid controls to operation in degraded conditions and with missing information, which is important for operation in an EMP scenario. The Phase I effort will demonstrate proof of concept on a case study of a candidate DCI site, and if successful, will be matured and validated against test results for DCI sites in Phases II and III.