[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 57 (Friday, March 23, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12725-12726]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-05940]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Solid State Power Substation Roadmap

AGENCY: Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, 
Department of Energy.

ACTION: Request for information (RFI).

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Electricity Delivery 
and Energy Reliability (OE), is seeking comments and information from 
interested parties to inform its development of a Solid State Power 
Substation (SSPS) Roadmap. An SSPS is defined as the strategic 
integration of high voltage power electronic converters in substations 
to provide enhanced capabilities and support the evolution of the grid. 
SSPS technology can overcome some of the current limitations within 
substations by enabling control of real and reactive power flows, 
management of voltage transients and harmonic content, and the ability 
to increase the flexibility, resiliency, and security of the electric 
power system.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 7, 2018. An 
informational webinar will be held on Thursday, March 29th, 2018 from 
1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET to discuss the draft SSPS Roadmap in more 
detail and provide information on this RFI.

ADDRESSES: Comments can be submitted by any of the following methods.
    Email: [email protected], whereas the subject line of the 
message is ``SSPS Roadmap Comment.'' Please provide your full name, 
title, and organization, along with your comments in the Excel 
spreadsheet provided and name the file ``Your first and last name--SSPS 
Roadmap Comment.''
    Mail: Kerry Cheung, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy 
Reliability, U.S. Department of Energy, Forrestal Building, Room 6E-
092, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585.  Note: Delivery 
of the U.S. Postal Service mail to DOE may be delayed by several weeks 
due to security screening. DOE, therefore, encourages those wishing to 
comment to submit comments electronically by email.
    Web page: The draft SSPS Roadmap, Excel spreadsheet for comments, 
and information on the upcoming webinar can be found on the following 
web page: https://energy.gov/oe/articles/solid-state-power-substation-roadmap-request-information

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to Kerry Cheung, Office of Electricity Delivery and 
Energy Reliability, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue 
SW, Washington, DC 20585 at [email protected], 202-586-4819.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Substations are critical points within the vast U.S. power grid, 
serving a number of functions important to the safe, reliable, and 
cost-effective delivery of electricity. Substations serve as the entry 
point to the grid for electric power generators as well as the exit 
point for large industrial customers. Substations also form the 
boundaries between the high voltage transmission network and the 
distribution system, enabling the network to reconfigure to ensure 
stability and reliability, and to regulate power quality for down-
stream

[[Page 12726]]

electricity customers. As the electric power system continues to 
evolve, with stakeholders integrating higher amounts of variable 
renewable generation, deploying electric vehicles and associated 
charging infrastructure, and connecting more dynamic end-use devices 
and subsystems, substations will need to evolve as well. These critical 
nodes will need to continue providing their traditional functions as 
well as new functions and capabilities required in a future grid.
    The SSPS Roadmap will present a path for the strategic integration 
of high voltage power electronic converters in substations to provide 
enhanced capabilities and support the evolution of the grid. Ultimately 
envisioned as a modular, scalable, flexible, and adaptable power block 
that can be used within all substations, SSPS converters will serve as 
power routers or hubs that have the capability to electrically isolate 
system components and provide bidirectional alternating current or 
direct current power flow control from one or more sources to one or 
more loads--indifferent to magnitude and frequency. Deployment of SSPS 
technology within substations can facilitate evolution of the grid by 
enabling better asset utilization, increasing system efficiency, 
enhancing security and resilience, and easing the integration of 
distributed energy resources and microgrids.

II. Request for Information

    The draft SSPS Roadmap was developed by the OE Transformer 
Resilience and Advanced Components program with support from the 
Savannah River National Laboratory. The roadmap is structured to 
provide the context, rationale, and potential benefits of utilizing 
SSPS technology, and articulates a research and development pathway to 
accelerate maturation of SSPS. It aims to capture the state-of-the-art 
in critical enabling technologies, highlight research gaps and 
opportunities, and align disparate activities across the stakeholder 
communities to realize the SSPS vision.
    This RFI provides the public, industry, and interested 
stakeholders, the opportunity to play an important role in defining and 
refining the SSPS vision and the potential technology development 
pathway. The intent of this RFI is to solicit input concerning the 
benefits offered by SSPS technology, the application areas where SSPS 
technology can provide a value proposition, the current state-of-the-
art, and the gaps that are most critical to fill. The information 
obtained will be public and is meant to be used by DOE to guide and 
inform research and development activities. Please provide your 
comments next to the relevant questions in the Excel spreadsheet and 
supporting information if noted, including studies, reports, 
references, data, and examples relevant to SSPS.

SSPS Roadmap Questions

Chapter 1-2: Introduction and Conventional Substations
    What issues and concerns not captured in the roadmap most deeply 
impact the ability of substations to meet the demands of an evolving 
grid? What are additional challenges faced by utilities that would 
necessitate power electronic converters in substations?
    Are there any other issues or comments regarding these Chapters?
Chapter 3-4: Solid State Power Substations and SSPS Technology 
Development Pathway
    Is there evidence of a growing need for power electronic converters 
in substations? If so, in what capacity? What specific challenges would 
the use of power electronic converters address?
    Comments are requested on the SSPS vision and the three 
classification of SSPS converters articulated in the roadmap, as well 
as on the defining feature and functions and the voltage and power 
ratings.
    Comments are requested on the SSPS technology development pathway 
presented in the roadmap. For each classification of SSPS converters, 
are there other potential applications that have not been captured?
    What are additional benefits of using SSPS converters that should 
be captured?
    Are there any other issues or comments regarding these Chapters?
Chapter 5: SSPS Technology Challenges, Gaps, and Goals
    Comments are requested on the R&D challenges identified in the 
roadmap and their associated goals. Are they sufficiently aggressive 
and appropriate to realize the defining feature and functions for each 
classification of SSPS converter? What R&D challenges not yet 
identified would prevent SSPS technologies from being realized, as 
envisioned? For these additional R&D challenges, what would be the 
associated goals for each classification of SSPS converter?
    Comments are requested on the state-of-the-art and the research 
gaps identified in the roadmap for each of the R&D challenges. What on-
going work, that can be publicly shared, should be reflected in the 
state-of-the-art? What additional gaps needs to be highlighted to 
address the R&D challenges identified? What specific actions will need 
to be taken in the near-, mid-, and long-term to sufficiently address 
the gaps identified?
    What additional non-technical challenges are there that would 
prevent SSPS converters from being accepted by industry? What 
additional standards would be relevant to SSPS technology, as 
envisioned? What are potential market or regulatory barriers that will 
need to be addressed?
    Are there any other issues or comments regarding this Chapter?

General Comments

    Comments are requested on the technology topic described in the 
roadmap. What is the appropriate Federal role in advancing this 
technology area? What are some organizational roles in helping to 
advance this technology concept? What amount of resources would be 
required to fully implement the roadmap?

    Issued in Washington, DC, on March 16, 2018.
Bruce Walker,
Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity 
Delivery and Energy Reliability.
[FR Doc. 2018-05940 Filed 3-22-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P