Super grids could stabilize Caribbean power during hurricanes, study finds

Super grids could stabilize Caribbean power during hurricanes, study finds

by Clarence Oxford

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 26, 2024

The potential for “super grids” to stabilize energy supply during hurricanes is being explored by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The Caribbean islands, traditionally reliant on expensive imported fossil fuels, are transitioning to harnessing local solar and wind resources. However, the prevalence of hurricanes poses significant challenges to solar power generation. Oak Ridge researchers have developed a detailed modeling method to anticipate the decrease in solar power output during stormy conditions and examined how interconnected grids could help mitigate these energy losses.

Rodney Itiki, the lead researcher, emphasizes the importance of such infrastructure planning to ensure consistent electricity access across the Caribbean, including 12 island nations and U.S. territories like Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. “The loss of the sun’s energy during hurricanes is likely to become increasingly important on islands like Puerto Rico, which declared a goal of converting to all-renewable energy by 2050,” said Itiki.

The team’s research involved simulating how various configurations of interconnected grids would sustain electricity availability during hurricanes. They analyzed scenarios where large hurricanes could disrupt power from solar plants while assessing potential solutions like laying high-voltage undersea cables.

“This is one of the major contributions of the research, because when we design the power system, we need to do it considering all possible cases – most of all, the worst-case scenario,” said Itiki, a postdoctoral research associate with ORNL’s Power Systems Resilience group.

Their simulations showed that a super grid connecting the U.S., Caribbean islands, and South America could enhance regional energy reliability. The most effective configuration was found to be a combined U.S.-Caribbean grid, whereas a standalone Caribbean grid was less effective due to the alignment of hurricanes with the islands.

Itiki’s inspiration for studying grid interconnectivity came from observing successful subsea electrical links like those between the United Kingdom and Germany. Following Hurricane Maria’s devastating impact on Puerto Rico in 2017, which resulted in prolonged power outages, he focused on the potential of connecting Puerto Rico’s grid with Florida’s.

Originally concentrating on wind energy, Itiki shifted to include solar power dynamics after improvements in turbine technology. His upcoming projects aim to merge his models of solar and wind energy to evaluate how super grids might broadly improve energy reliability in both the Caribbean and mainland U.S.

Itiki also underlined the need for more studies to explore the environmental and economic feasibility of installing undersea cables, though his current models offer valuable insights for planning and managing energy systems during severe weather.

Research Report:Method for Spatiotemporal Solar Power Profile Estimation for a Proposed U.S.-Caribbean-South America Super Grid under Hurricanes