Alstom site to study energy at Navy Yard

One of the world's leading managers of electricity networks on Tuesday agreed to open a research center in partnership with Pennsylvania State University at the Navy Yard, reinforcing its emergence as a smart-energy campus.

Alstom Grid, a unit of French industrial giant Alstom, will open the Microgrid Center of Excellence at the Navy Yard in South Philadelphia. The center will be involved in the deployment of new technologies related to "microgrids," which are localized electrical systems that can operate autonomously from the regional power grid.

"We are looking for ways to put into real-life practice the things that are working for us in the laboratory," said Michael Atkinson, the president of Alstom Grid North America. "I don't want people to think this is all future, pie-in-the-sky stuff."

The Alstom project will operate out of the Department of Energy-funded GridSTAR Center at the Navy Yard, a smart-grid education and research center that is part of Penn State's architectural engineering department. Alstom said it will assign four engineers to the center.

Penn State officials hope the partnership will lead to new research opportunities for professors and new teaching opportunities for students.

"We have a new emphasis on developing new knowledge, and getting that knowledge into the marketplace," said Neil A. Sharkey, Penn State's vice president for research. "So having a partner like Alstom, that's what that's about."

Alstom's energy units, including its power generation and grid business, are being acquired for $17 billion by General Electric Co. The European Union is reviewing the sale.

Alstom employs about 125 engineers at its power-electronics offices near Philadelphia International Airport.

The Navy Yard, which developed its own power-distribution system as a military installation, currently has a peak electricity load of about 30 megawatts, and that is expected to double in seven years with the continued redevelopment of the area.

The microgrid project seeks to reduce the Navy Yard's dependence on the regional power network with locally generated power, on-site energy storage, and conservation measures.

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