On Jan. 13, the Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Institute (SEI), Southern Company, and Georgia Power hosted a workshop aimed at imparting new information and sparking innovative ideas around the Tech Square Microgrid (TSMG) and the use of its data in education and research. 

Launched in 2021 with a 1.4-megawatt capacity, the microgrid is located on Williams Street, just south of Fifth Street in Tech Square. It is a joint project between Georgia Power and Georgia Tech.

The workshop brought together experts and enthusiasts to discuss the current operations of the TSMG, an essential asset for the energy resilience of Georgia Tech’s High-Performance Computing Center located next to Coda, and to share Georgia Tech studies that use data from the microgrid.

The workshop started with an overview of the microgrid’s current status and capabilities as a resilience resource, provided by Collins Pratt, the TSMG managing engineer from Georgia Power. This was followed by a keynote on TSMG modeling and simulation presented by GTRI research engineer and SEI’s lead on cybersecurity of critical infrastructure initiative, Sam Litchfield, and Adam King, a GTRI research engineer and Ph.D. student. Their insights into the state of the art of microgrid modeling and its role in assessing dependencies between energy grid resources set the stage for the rest of the workshop discussions.

During the panel on “Microgrids and Living Labs,” panelists from academia, Georgia Tech’s Office of Sustainability, and Georgia Power shared their perspectives on microgrid infrastructure and its role in research and education. The discussion emphasized the importance of microgrids as living labs, their potential for wider deployment in distributed energy systems, and the need for skilled graduates in the electrical utility workforce.

To conclude the event, attendees toured the microgrid site across the street. The tour, led by Pratt, provided a firsthand look at the microgrid infrastructure and its operating capabilities.

Reflecting on the significance of the microgrid, SEI’s Interim Executive Director Christine Conwell said, "The data from the microgrid is a vital resource for researchers at Georgia Tech and our metro Atlanta partners. It not only showcases our work in energy resilience but also serves as a living laboratory for developing innovative energy solutions."

Georgia Tech Senior Research Engineer Scott Duncan, who leads the Microgrids initiative at SEI organized the workshop along with Southern Company Principal Research Engineer Andrew Ingram. "The details shared during the workshop have sparked numerous ideas, from an array of perspectives across Georgia Tech, on how we can further utilize the microgrid and the unique data coming from its operations,” said Duncan. “The insights gained today will undoubtedly seed future research and collaborations, pushing the boundaries of what we can achieve in energy resilience."