Energy News
ENERGY NEWS
Supercomputer simulation seen as tool to guard against U.S. power grid failures
Supercomputer simulation seen as tool to guard against U.S. power grid failures
by Joe Fisher
Washington DC (UPI) Aug 7, 2023

The world's first exascale supercomputer may be able to help avoid major disruptions to the nation's power grid, researchers say.

A team consisting of experts from multiple institutions developed new software to respond to a variety of grid failures using the Frontier supercomputer this spring. The team was assembled at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., for the Exascale Computing Project's ExaSGD project.

The software, called HiOp, ran the largest simulation of its kind to optimize the power grid's response to failures from weather events, natural disasters and attacks. In a 20-minute process, it was able to help researchers identify safe and cost-effective power grid setpoints for 100,000 grid failures.

A power grid setpoint refers to multiple measures of grid performance of conditions such as voltage, frequency and the active level of power.

"Because the list of potential power grid failures is large, this problem is very computationally demanding," Cosmin Petra, researcher for LLNL, said in a statement. "The goal of this project was to show that the exascale computers are capable of exhaustively solving this problem in a manner that is consistent with current practices that power grid operators have."

The challenges of keeping the grid running effectively are compounded by adapting to new energy sources and the risks of future natural disasters as a result of climate change. Currently a human operator is required to respond to grid failures.

When a failure happens, operators attempt to determine the first plans of action to get back up and running within the first 30 minutes to avoid blackouts and widespread outages.

"This computational problem may become even more relevant in the future, in the context of extreme climate events," Petra said. "We could use the software stack that ran on Frontier to minimize disruptions caused by hurricanes or wildfires, or to engineer the grid to be more resilient in the longer run under such scenarios, just to give an example."

"It is a massive jump in terms of computational power," he added.

An exascale supercomputer is a massive computing system capable of executing billions of calculations per second. It is up to 20 times faster than other supercomputers, according to the Department of Energy.

Related Links

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
ENERGY NEWS
Biden to tout climate policy in visit to baking US southwest
Washington (AFP) Aug 8, 2023
President Joe Biden will announce Tuesday that he is putting the brakes on uranium mining in a vast area around the Grand Canyon, in the first salvo of a trip aimed at warming Americans up to his climate policy. Biden will give the area of nearly one million acres "national monument" status, White House climate advisor Ali Zaidi told reporters on Air Force One as it flew the 80-year-old Democrat to Arizona late Monday for a tour through the southwestern United States. Zaidi said the area's new ... read more

ENERGY NEWS
One year on: How has US climate plan affected trade ties?

Supercomputer simulation seen as tool to guard against U.S. power grid failures

New Zealand, BlackRock announce $1.2 billion in funding for zero-emission grid

Germany boosts climate fund

ENERGY NEWS
Novel proton-conductive membranes for automobile fuel cells

US lab repeats nuclear fusion feat, with higher yield

Researchers make discovery that could reduce explosions of lithium-metal batteries

Less power, lower emissions: improving AC technology

ENERGY NEWS
U.S. identifies three new areas for potential offshore wind energy development

Biden to visit Philly Shipyard to announce construction of offshore wind vessel

New transmission line to carry wind energy electricity from Wyoming to Nevada

Brazil faces dilemma: endangered macaw vs. wind farm

ENERGY NEWS
Highly efficient organometal halide perovskite photoelectrodes for water splitting

Waste plastics transformed into chemicals with solar-powered catalyst

Huge solar arrays installed on Psyche

U.S. announces tax credits for clean energy programs in underserved communities

ENERGY NEWS
Sweden to clear obstacles for new nuclear reactors

Ukraine nuclear plants fully operational for winter: operator

No explosives found on Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant roofs: IAEA

Niger coup raises questions about uranium dependence

ENERGY NEWS
Missouri residents to get natural gas from landfill emissions

New process coverts CO2 into fuel more efficiently than photosynthesis

Harnessing synthetic biology to make sustainable alternatives to petroleum products

University of Illinois study finds turning food waste into bioenergy can become a profitable industry

ENERGY NEWS
UN finishes removing oil from decaying Yemen tanker

U.S. gas prices stable at $3.83 per gallon and demand remains resilient

Gold-nickel alloy boosts hydrogen evolution reaction efficiency

Oil prices hit four-month high on demand and supply-side concerns

ENERGY NEWS
N.Zealand, BlackRock to create climate investment fund

Top fundraiser offers defense of climate protests; Pope tells youths to tackle crisis

UN vows more 'transparency' of climate talks attendance

China denies obstructing G20 climate negotiations

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.