The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to improve electricity access for island communities and enable cost-effective restoration of coastal energy systems following natural disasters. Grid-weak regions and island communities typically have poor access to affordable, resilient, and clean energy solutions compared to their mainland counterparts. The frequency and severity of natural disasters is increasing; resilient and flexible electricity supply systems are more critical than ever, especially for island communities. Making effective recovery decisions addresses the different strategies of preparedness for energy systems and can drastically improve resulting economic and community impacts. This project will enable the efficient transmission of energy to island communities through a new technology, mobile energy storage transmission (MEST). The recent improvements of energy storage technology cost, size, and performance have resulted in technoeconomic feasibility of this innovative technology. Implementation of MEST will both improve long-term energy access for island communities and provide rapidly-deployable, flexible, affordable, and resilient electricity delivery systems for short-term crises. The advent of MEST coincides with the increasing importance of island energy systems; a market earmarked for high-growth over coming decades as sea levels rise, island nations continue to develop, and emphasis is put on development of sustainable energy systems.
This I-Corps project is based on findings which identified a significant challenge in addressing the interdependency between infrastructure systems, in particular, pertaining to the role that energy systems play in the disaster recovery process of other infrastructures and communities. The proposed investigation addresses a missing link between resilience of infrastructure networks and multi-industry impacts to more effectively guide preparedness and recovery decisions. This project will evaluate scenario-specific applications of MEST for island communities; complementing the shortcomings of conventional cabled transmission. While on-shore cabled transmission is an efficient and low-cost mode of transporting electricity, subsea cabled transmission is costly and often results in poor redundancy of electricity supply. This novel transmission model, comprised of commercially available components, uses batteries and conventional freight transportation to move electricity from one market to another; providing service commensurate to a subsea cabled interconnector, but with added flexibility, resilience, and many benefits of traditional grid-level energy storage systems. MEST is founded on established economic theory, energy storage technology, and various market data. Research indicates potential for MEST in both long-term island power provision and short-term disaster relief. The combination of these findings indicates a promising future for impact and commercialization of MEST following this I-Corps project.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
