Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has celebrated the ribbon–cutting of its Microgrid in a Box, which was deployed in partnership with the Fall River Electric Cooperative at its 7.4 MW Felt hydropower plant in Idaho.
INL researchers demonstrated how hydropower combined with advanced controls and use of a mobile microgrid can enable small communities to maintain critical services during emergencies. At the ribbon–cutting, power from the Microgrid in a Box simulated a critical load, while the team showed how the hydropower plant could be used to restore the grid after a simulated electrical grid blackout in a process called a blackstart.
The Relocatable Resiliency Alternative Power Improvement Distribution Microgrid in a Box, also known as RAPID MIB, is a portable, self-contained grid system developed by INL engineers in collaboration with private industry and government customers. It enables integration and optimization of multiple energy sources — such as hydropower, solar panels, wind turbines, diesel generators or small nuclear reactors — to ensure a reliable and resilient power supply in remote or off-grid locations, or during emergency situations or power outages.
“Fall River Electric Cooperative is focused on investing in technology that can improve the lives of our owner-members and this partnership with INL is a prime example,” said Fall River Chief Executive officer Bryan Case. “The Microgrid in a Box test has accelerated our ability to deploy a hydropower and battery system to provide our members with electricity in the event of natural disasters or other local emergencies.”
Fall River is a customer-owned, nonprofit electric utility with over 15,000 owner-members providing electrical service to portions of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Fall River owns and operates three hydroelectric plants. Hydropower generation constitutes 84% of the power provided to its members.
The new technologies showcased, developed by INL and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office, demonstrate how communities with similar resources can maintain critical services during blackout emergencies.
“There are hundreds of hydropower plants like this one serving small communities across the country,” said Thomas Mosier, INL’s Energy Systems Group lead. “What we’ve demonstrated are new technologies that can enable these communities to use the hydropower resources they already have to restart and maintain stable power to essential services, even during an emergency event.”
Battelle Energy Alliance manages INL for DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy. INL is the nation’s center for nuclear energy research and development and also performs research in each of DOE’s strategic goal areas: energy, national security, science and the environment.
