Guam Power Authority is included among the first utilities to participate in the Department of Energy’s Utility and Grid Operator Technical Assistance program, DOE said on Jan. 13.
The program from the DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and Grid Deployment Office is designed to equip utilities and grid operators with the expertise and resources “needed to build the reliable, resilient, and secure grids required to meet the nation's growing energy demand,” DOE said.
The Utility and Grid Operator Technical Assistance program is managed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory with support from Idaho National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
The program offers three tracks: Key Assist, Interconnection Assistance, and rolling technical assistance.
- Key Assist provides utilities with up to $1 million of comprehensive technical assistance, including access to facilities such as NREL's Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES), to navigate complex grid integration challenges.
- Interconnection Assistance supports transmission providers and distribution utilities with between $100,000 and $150,000 to focus on short term interconnection needs.
- Rolling technical assistance provides utilities and grid operators with up to 100 hours of subject matter expertise, and applicants are welcome to apply at any time at www.nrel.gov/utility-technical-assistance.
Guam Power Authority, a Key Assist participant, is seeking technical assistance to support the planning and deployment of vehicle-grid integration technologies, DOE said.
Guam Power Authority’s goal through this technical assistance is to integrate electric vehicles and deploy chargers while ensuring grid reliability, optimizing energy usage, and delivering sustainable, cost-effective solutions.