Intelligent Tactical Electric Grid Control

The Intelligent Power Controller (IPC) will enable Tactical Electric Grids to operate with greater availability of power to critical loads and higher utilization of limited power generation capacity. Using a priority load assignment, the electrical demand can be managed through appropriate load shedding. Any available additional generating resource will be dispatched according to the current loads or even to near-term expected loads. COTS-based technology will enable the development of a low cost system. This effort will analyze power demand in current tactical power networks and propose appropriate control strategies. Example power systems will be modeled and the benefits of the different proposed control strategies will be quantified. This effort will examine the practical implementation of such control systems by examining available COTS hardware and will investigate the case where the power grid may be called upon to interact with utility grids, presenting issues both technical and legislative.