INL's Power Systems Engineering Department provides full-service capabilities in planning, analysis, design, maintenance, troubleshooting, and installation of industrial power and utility systems. Our staff incorporates considerable depth of expertise in electrical power generation and distribution systems; steam, water, fuel, and environmental monitoring systems; alternative energy systems; reliability, availability, and maintainability assessments; and associated supervisory control and energy management systems. We develop leading-edge technologies and provide independent validation of energy technologies.
INL's Power Systems Engineering Department often supports other agencies. Our greatest strengths are our strong technical backgrounds, independent technical skills, applied system engineering skills, reliability skills, long-range planning skills, and assessment skills on alternate energy systems.
INL's Power Systems Engineering Department, in cooperation with the varied INL resource base, offers a full complement of applied products and services to deliver real-time solutions for the most demanding power system requirements, including the following:
- SCADA design, upgrade and energy conservation improvements
- Project Validation & Project Formulation
- Independent Design Review
- Independent Technical Assessment
- Power System Planning
- Problem Solving
- Power Plant Design
- Centralized Utility & Power Plant Supervisory Control Systems
- Alternate Energy Import/Export Storage & Supply Systems
- High Voltage Monitoring & Diagnostic Systems
- New Technology Equipment Test-bed Evaluations
- Prototype System Development & Testing
- Short Circuit, Load Flow, Coordination & System Stability Analysis
- Energy Reduction Assessments & Project Formulation
- Emergency Power Systems
- Power Plant Efficiency Upgrades
- Plant Utility & Energy System Upgrade Planning
- Independent Verification & Validation of Energy Technologies
The department has the capability to perform detailed analyses of high and medium voltage power systems including:
- Short circuit analysis
- Load flow analysis
- Protective device coordination analyses
- Reliability, availability and maintainability (RAM) studies
- Harmonic current flow analysis
- Voltage distortion and resonance analysis
- Independent design validation
- System assessments
INL's Power System also is involved in Power System Component Research and Development. In 1998, we were awarded a R&D 100 Award for the Election Optical High Voltage Sensor. Also, in 1998 INL Power System group was part of the Federal System Energy Management Program Small Group Awards for the Ascension Wind Farm, the 2004 presidential award for leadership in Energy Management, and the 2004 USAF citation design award for design team work.