Industry

The Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) platform is designed to be highly flexible, with the ability for industries to “plug and play” different technologies into the core system.

With the ARIES platform, we can develop and evaluate new technologies in a holistic, integrated energy system for the first time at this scale.

Achievements

• Grid Resilience 
• Validation of new clean energy technologies 
• Cybersecurity solutions validation  

Projects

Read the stories of how industry is using ARIES to help accelerate and derisk the deployment of clean energy technologies.

Grid Restoration Is Possible With 100% Renewables, as Shown in Small-Scale NREL Demonstration

NREL engineers designed a research platform with 40 Siemens inverters to show how renewable energy devices can provide resilience by recovering electricity following an outage. The platform is a small version of a realistic system—solar, battery, and wind power all connected on a distribution network—and part of a project named AURORA. This project, led by Siemens with partners Colombia University and Holy Cross Energy, can derisk new controls for integrating more renewable energy and providing resilience.

Partners Leverage the Advanced Distribution Management System Test Bed To Evaluate Leading-Edge Management Solutions for the Electrical Grid

As our grid is changing and adapting to more distributed energy resources within the utility system, we need advanced research capabilities to validate the performance and interoperability of controls technologies within distribution systems and grid-edge loads. The ARIES Advanced Distribution Management System research capability has been leveraged by utility and original equipment manufacturer partners such as Xcel Energy, Schneider Electric, Holy Cross Energy, San Diego Gas & Electric, Central Georgia EMC, and Israel Electric to develop optimal control strategies for distribution systems. The platform was also instrumental to facilitate research for PowerModelsONM, an R&D 100 award-winning project (with Los Alamos National Laboratory) focused on networked microgrids. The Advanced Distribution Management System test bed provides a safe environment for companies and utilities to validate and optimize their management systems under real-world scenarios in the lab, reducing risk before deployment in the field and reducing their integration costs. Following the 2023 user call, selected partners will use the test bed for vehicle-to-grid integration projects that will feature demonstrations on ARIES assets.

Cyber Range Accelerates Tech to Market, Starting With Strong Authentication for Distributed Energy Resources

To understand and address security gaps in energy systems, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Offices of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response; sponsoring utilities Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Duke Energy, and Xcel Energy; and NREL launched the Clean Energy Cybersecurity Accelerator—a technology accelerator program to build cybersecurity into renewable energy technologies to stay ahead of evolving threats. The accelerator's first cohort—which includes Blue Ridge Networks, Sierra Nevada Corp., and Xage Security—is validating its proposed solutions in the ARIES cyber range, which provides a safe, emulated environment to evaluate cybersecurity innovations without putting customers or utility networks at risk. Read more about the first cohort members.

Work With Us

Want to partner with us and take advantage of ARIES capabilities for your industry? Check out our Work With Us page to learn how.