Electric Power Research Institute names three Exelon-led teams for Technology Transfer Awards

Three project teams led by Exelon engineers recently earned honors from the Electric Power Research Institute’s (EPRI) 2024 Technology Transfer Awards for work related to accelerating the adoption of sustainable energy solutions.

“Exelon’s award recipients have not only embraced EPRI’s focus on using research and technology to solve crucial problems, but they also demonstrate leadership, initiative, and a commitment to advancing the energy sector,” Sunny Elebua, Exelon’s senior vice president and chief strategy and sustainability officer, said. “Together, we’re raising the standard for what we can deliver for our communities – a standard where energy is cleaner, more reliable, and accessible to all.”

The projects – which also included workers from Exelon operating companies BGE, ComEd, Delmarva Power, PECO, and Pepco – included DER network gateways for control integration of smart inverters, fleet electrification planning and assessment, and fiber optic-focused RF monitoring and wind mitigation.

The DER side included work to create a DER Gateway Requirements Document detailing specifications and applications for a distributed energy resources gateway, including a hardware platform, operating system, firmware, hardware security, environmental, communication interfaces, and functional/cyber security. Electric companies use DER management systems to aid operations. Three earned awards for these efforts.

Separately, the fleet electrification planning study focused on how to characterize medium-duty and heavy-duty (MDHD) EV demand and figure out if the modern grid could handle the resulting load. Members helped identify areas where proper use of assets could incentivize early electrification adopters and prioritize infrastructure investments in areas with limited capacity. Work by the six people awarded here followed collaboration by EPRI and a group of companies to better understand the future needs of MDHD EVs and the electrification opportunity of distribution feeders, given the impending load will be a national concern.

Lastly, EPRI honored two ComEd workers for their efforts at RF monitoring. They tried to understand and quantify the effects of sustained and gusting winds on an overhead fiber system and how effective different means of mitigation could be. Using radio frequency sensors to detect movements along the fiber spans and weather station data, the study ultimately offered data showing that air flow spoilers were effective at limiting maximum conductor displacement.

That knowledge prompted ComEd to announce that, going forward, it will standardize these wind diverters as a way to prevent severe conductor galloping.