Interview with Trishan Esram

Featured Engineer

Trishan Esram

Trishan Esram - Advanced Power & Energy Systems; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

What has your journey in engineering been like so far?

Shortly after graduating from high school in my home country Mauritius—a tropical paradise island in the southern Indian Ocean—I started pursuing my bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass., in the fall of 1999. My interest in power electronics started during my senior year and brought me to the Power and Energy Systems group at the University of Illinois (U of I) at Urbana-Champaign, in 2003, for my graduate studies. At U of I, my focus shifted toward the desi¬¬gn and application of power electronics to optimize the energy harvest from renewable energy sources and integrate them into the electric power grid. While completing my doctorate degree, I was part of a small team of engineers at SolarBridge Technologies, Inc., designing an innovative micro inverter for alternating-current photovoltaic modules.

Upon graduation from U of I, I joined the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, or PNNL, operated by Battelle, in Richland, Wash. I am now an integral member of the technical team working on the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project, or PNWSGDP, led by Battelle. The PNWSGDP is the largest regional smart grid demonstration in the U.S., involving the Bonneville Power Administration, or BPA, 11 utility representatives, five technology partners, and more than 60,000 metered customers across five Pacific Northwest states—Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming.

What is the most intriguing aspect of your current work?

PNNL’s Electricity Infrastructure Operations Center in Richland, Wash., is probably the “coolest” part of the PNWSGDP. The EIOC, as it is called, is a unique R&D test bed, set up as an actual room, where grid operators can work and develop new tools to make the existing electric grid more efficient. The PNWSGDP utilizes the EIOC not only as a control center, but also to collect, store, analyze and evaluate data that will be collected within the different utility territories before and during the two-year demonstration period.

What is a unique feature of your current project?

As part of the PNWSGDP, we are integrating a number of tools to create a unique signal called the transactive control signal. At any place and any time, the signal can communicate the price and availability of power to the assets that are part of the project, such as a smart thermostat, allowing those assets (or other end users) to make the best decision about energy use. The information we hope to glean from using this signal as part of the project will help more accurately quantify costs and benefits of a future power system and help us fully realize the capability of a variety of smart grid functionalities.

What are the goals of the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project?

One of the main goals is to quantify the costs and benefits of the different smart grid technologies that are being installed in our region. When the Department of Energy awarded Battelle this project with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding, the intention was to understand what is the business case for smart grid, and how will different technologies work? They wanted to be able to inform a regional and national case for smart grid, with the ultimate goal of establishing a more efficient energy infrastructure. We would really like to make more of the energy we have now and meet the growing demands for the needs in the future, without having to build more power generation.

What are the primary operational objectives of the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project?

As far as the PNWSGDP is concerned, the operational objectives, as supported by the utilities involved, are to:

manage peak demand
facilitate wind integration
address constrained resources
improve system reliability
improve system efficiency

Can you explain a little more about the transactive control signal?

The transactive control signal represents the monetary value of power in terms of dollars-per-megawatt-hour, at a given point in time and specific location, in an electronic form. The signal moves through the power system, incentivizing the use and movement of power. It’s a forward-looking signal, meaning that it forecasts days ahead and is updated every five minutes.

Data for the signal originates with the power generators. From there it propagates downstream through the network, following the flow of power, and corresponding to physical locations in the electrical system called nodes. These nodes can be anything (from appliances to a customer meter or a substation) that can receive information and transmit it, either up or downstream, so that other assets on the system can respond appropriately.

At each node, a decision is made to increase the incentive signal value if less electric load is needed below that point, or decrease the incentive signal value if more load is needed.

Flowing in the other direction, starting with end-use points such as homes, information is accumulated and forwarded about expected energy use over the next day. In this way the transactive control system is a closed loop.

Generators see what the expected load will be and plan accordingly. End uses of electricity see what the expected price and availability will be and likewise plan their use. Over time, the incentive signal and the load signal converge, with planned supply of electricity matching planned use.

Who makes up the team working on the PNWSGDP?

A core team at Battelle’s Pacific Northwest Division is managing the project, which consists of the Bonneville Power Administration, 11 utilities in the Pacific Northwest and five technology participants.

What challenges do you foresee in our industry?

For me, the biggest challenge is the development and production of reliable, robust, efficient and inexpensive energy storage systems that can be used to “firm” intermittent renewable energy sources like wind and solar. Only when such energy storage systems are available will utilities be less concerned about the reliability and stability issues caused by the intermittent renewable sources. Only then will the level of integration of renewable energy sources into the existing power grid start to increase and help to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels.

What is on your bookshelf?

Among the books on my bookshelf, Elements of Power Electronics by Philip T. Krein, Feedback Control of Dynamic Systems by Gene F. Franklin et al., and Power System Stability and Control by Prabha Kundur are three textbooks that I find to be very handy and easy-to-read references.

What has been your favorite project?

So far, my favorite project remains the U of I’s participation in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2007 Solar Decathlon, during which 20 teams of college and university students competed at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for the most energy efficient and aesthetically appealing net-zero, stand-alone solar house. I was the electrical engineering team leader, working with more than 20 students to design and construct the PV, energy storage, and AC distribution systems of the house. What made this project even more memorable was the flawless collaboration between the multidisciplinary teams and the wonderful guidance of the U of I’s faculty members.

Do you have any note-worthy engineering experiences?

To have led and been part of the team that designed and put together the complete code-compliant electrical system of the U of I’s Solar Decathlon house, without prior electrician training, and to be the first among the 20 teams to have had the electrical system up and converting free solar energy for the house on the National Mall.

What direction do you see your business heading in the next few years?

The team of engineers in the Advanced Power and Energy Systems group at PNNL will continue to develop more tools that can improve the ability to provide reliable, secure, and clean power.