 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
Contact: For immediate release RFP Issued Today for Energy System Architecture Development Palo Palo Alto, Calif. - May 24, 2002 - The Electricity Innovation Institute (E2I) released a Request for Proposals (RFP) today to solicit assistance in designing an open, standards-based system architecture that will enable the energy industry to meet the emerging needs of a digital society. The system architecture will define an overall technical framework for the communications and intelligent equipment necessary to support the envisioned future power system. The envisioned electric system of the future will leverage the newest communications and distributed computing technologies available to provide the foundation for advanced customer communications and a self-healing grid. The self-healing grid will integrate real-time information from embedded sensors with distributed intelligence and automated control to achieve a power system that can anticipate problems and quickly recover from disruptive events. The system architecture will also include a data communications infrastructure that links energy users to markets, enables real-time pricing, customer energy management and innovative energy services. This infrastructure will support advanced revenue metering, power quality monitoring, and two-way communications between utilities and customers. Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) studies show that electricity demand in the United States has exceeded transmission capacity by more than 15% for each of the last 10 years. This raises a host of unprecedented reliability, safety, and security issues. Additionally, microprocessor-based technologies have radically altered the nature of the electric load. These issues must also be addressed by the new system architecture. E2I is seeking proposals from individual contractors and contracting teams to apply the latest systems engineering methods to define an enterprise system architecture. The RFP calls for contractors to work with key industry stakeholders to develop a complete set of systems requirements and architecture documents, using standardized industry notation. Ultimately, project results will be made available to key standards organizations for use in developing robust infrastructure specifications. The project is managed by the Consortium for Electric Infrastructure to Support a Digital Society (CEIDS). This collaborative research initiative of E2I and EPRI. CEIDS provides the strategic framework for steps to increase power efficiency, address the impacts of technological acceleration, and reduce electrical pollution. E2I, an affiliate of EPRI, is a new nonprofit organization that conducts strategic breakthrough research and development in energy-related science and technology. Bringing together public and private resources, E2I directs and supports science and technology innovation in electricity supply, delivery, and utilization to address the needs of the 21st century economy. Visit E2I at www.e2i.org. EPRI was established in 1973 as a non-profit center for public interest energy and environmental research. EPRI's collaborative science and technology development program now spans nearly every area of power generation, delivery and use. Visit EPRI at www.epri.com.
- # # # -
|
