The Siebel Energy Institute, a global university consortium focused on smart energy, marked its debut today by announcing 24 research grants nearing $1 million. The winning proposals will accelerate improved performance in modern energy systems.
CEE's Stephen Mahin, Byron L. and Elvira E. Nishkian Professor of Structural Engineering, and Professor Scott Moura, a member of the Systems/Energy, and Civil Infrastructure and Climate faculty, were among the 24 who received the inaugural grants.
Mahin's proposal, Improving Reliability and Efficiency of Electrical Distribution Infrastructures (REEDING), will develop a model to assess the vulnerability of power networks to cascading failures.
Moura's proposal, Understanding the Impact of Electric Vehicle Charging on the Power Grid: An Urban Mobility Perspective, will study the interactions between electric vehicle charging, human mobility needs, the transportation network and power infrastructure.
Moura has a second winning proposal. He, along with Laurel Dunn, CEE PhD candidate, received a research grant for Data-Driven Techniques for Assessing Current and Future Grid Reliability, which will identify the specific technology, environmental and human factors that drive power grid reliability, aiming to forecast when, where and why outages are likely to occur in future climate and grid modernization scenarios.
See Siebel Energy Institute launches with major Berkeley presence (Berkeley Engineering)