Florida Power & Light and GE Digital Launch State-of-the-Art Microgrid Control Laboratory at the University of Central Florida
November 09 2021 - 10:00AM
Business Wire
- Microgrid Control Lab to serve as a hands-on facility that
simulates a modern grid control room
- Innovative research space to help America’s future engineers
learning about critical issues and opportunities facing energy
companies to ensure grid stability and reliability
Today, Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) and GE Digital
celebrated the opening of the new cutting-edge Microgrid Control
Lab at the University of Central Florida (UCF). The lab will serve
as a state-of-the-art research facility and control room for
engineering faculty and students. FPL and GE Digital are
co-sponsoring the lab at UCF, which will feature control center
equipment and software that students will use to simulate and test
real-life grid control operations, including finding ways to
optimize and keep the grid of the future secure.
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(Photo: GE)
“The Microgrid Control Lab provides unprecedented access to a
modern grid control center that enables some of the brightest young
minds in the country to collaborate, learn and help reimagine the
energy grid of tomorrow,” said Jim Walsh, General Manager of GE
Digital’s Grid Software business. “As renewable energy sources,
like solar, continue to expand and evolve, the technology behind
the grid has to keep up. It is critical that electrical and
computer engineering talent have real-life experiences with the
hardware and software than underpins the modern grid helping
utilities securely deliver reliable clean energy.”
At today’s lab opening ceremony, leaders from the three
organizations participated in a panel discussion focused on the
engineering roles available to recent graduates in the energy
sector and discussed opportunities for full-time employment. FPL
and GE Digital together have approximately 400 UCF alumni in their
workforces.
GE Digital also today announced a new internship program that
invests in the development of its team and future grid engineering
leaders. The program will offer UCF students an intensive
experience in the utilities and power sectors and help students
develop analytical and software development skills using emerging
technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Currently, more than 1,400 undergraduate and graduate students
at UCF are studying electrical or computer engineering -
disciplines that support energy systems and electricity grids.
Another 500-plus UCF students have indicated they plan to pursue an
electrical or computer engineering major once prerequisite
coursework is completed.
UCF’s College of Engineering and Computer Science offers a power
and renewable energy track as part of its undergraduate programs.
In addition, a graduate certificate is offered in sustainable and
resilient energy systems. Through a faculty collaboration called
RISES - Resilient, Intelligent and Sustainable Energy Systems - UCF
researchers across multiple disciplines are working to develop
sustainable and resilient energy systems and storage.
“This new facility is exactly the kind of strategic partnership
that makes UCF a premiere choice for students with future-focused
career goals. GE Digital and FPL have been both philanthropic
investors and design collaborators in this lab, ensuring our
students in this field will be industry-ready on day one of their
careers,” UCF President Alexander Cartwright said. “It’s a win-win.
Our students get a leading education in a lab environment, and both
companies open up a pipeline of incredible talent for their
workforce.”
The lab at UCF is designed to simulate the control center of a
microgrid, a type of self-sufficient energy system that
incorporates solar or other renewable energy sources and battery
storage to power a small-scale area, independent of a large-scale
grid.
“We are excited to bring this innovative research space to UCF
engineering students,” said Ed De Varona, FPL’s Vice President of
Transmission & Substation. “The lab is a terrific training
ground for rising engineers to work directly with the latest
technologies and help refine and innovate the way energy is
transmitted and distributed across the grid now and in the
future.”
The lab aims at safe, reliable, efficient and secure operation
of large-scale distribution networks with extremely high
penetration of renewables, a growing area in the energy industry.
Through collaborating with industry and utility partners, UCF
continues to offer students real-world opportunities as they
prepare to go into careers that are shaping the future.
About the University of Central Florida
The University of Central Florida is a public research
university in Orlando. Founded in 1963, UCF and its 13 colleges
offer more than 220 degrees from the university’s main campus,
downtown campus, hospitality campus, health sciences campus, online
and through multiple regional locations. UCF is an academic,
partnership and research leader in optics and lasers, modeling and
simulation, engineering and computer science, and video game
design. According to U.S. News & World Report, UCF ranks among
the nation’s 20 most innovative universities.
About Florida Power & Light Company
Florida Power & Light Company is the largest vertically
integrated rate-regulated electric utility energy company in the
U.S. as measured by retail electricity produced and sold. The
company serves more than 5.6 million customer accounts supporting
more than 11 million residents across Florida with clean, reliable
and affordable electricity. FPL operates one of the cleanest power
generation fleets in the U.S and in 2020 won the ReliabilityOne®
National Reliability Excellence Award for the fifth time in the
last six years. The company was recognized in 2020 as one of the
most trusted U.S. electric utilities by Escalent for the seventh
consecutive year. FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Florida-based
NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), a clean energy company widely
recognized for its efforts in sustainability, corporate
responsibility, ethics and compliance, and diversity. NextEra
Energy is ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry
in Fortune’s 2021 list of “World’s Most Admired Companies,” and
recognized on Fortune’s 2021 list of companies that “Change the
World.” NextEra Energy is also the parent company of NextEra Energy
Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is
the world’s largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and
sun and a world leader in battery storage. For more information
about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites:
www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, and
www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.
About GE Digital
GE Digital transforms how our customers solve their toughest
challenges by putting industrial data to work. Our mission is to
bring simplicity, speed, and scale to digital transformation
activities, with industrial software that delivers breakthrough
business outcomes. GE Digital’s product portfolio – including grid
optimization and analytics, asset and operations performance
management, and manufacturing operations and automation – helps
industrial companies in the utility, power generation, oil &
gas, aviation, and manufacturing sectors change the way industry
works. For more information, visit www.ge.com/digital.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211109006132/en/
Media: Rachael Van Reen GE Digital rachael.vanreen@ge.com
Michael Mazur Florida Power & Light Company
Media.Relations@fpl.com 561-694-4442 Heather Smith Lovett
University of Central Florida Heather.Smith@ucf.edu
407-823-3428
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