UConn and the University of Albany are partners in WISER, sharing expertise and resources to guide best practices on smart energy and grid resilience.
Predicting power outages from storms involves calculating weather's effect on vegetation, using data that can change rapidly. (Tom Breen/UConn Photo)
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded UConn and its partners several new projects to advance weather- and climate-based solutions for the energy industry.
On Feb. 6-7, the NSF Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) for Weather Innovation and Smart Energy and Resilience (WISER) hosted its Industry Advisory Board meeting. During the gathering, the NSF announced funding for 10 new projects, with UConn is involved in eight of them.
Established in 2023, WISER NSF IUCRC is a two-site center shared by the University at Albany and UConn. The Center combines cutting-edge technologies with the benefits of industry partnerships to address the evolving challenges posed by extreme weather and climate change.
"By fostering collaboration between academia and industry, WISER is poised to become a leading resource for solutions that enhance resilience and sustainability in the energy sector, says Emmanouil Anagnostou, the primary investigator for UConn's WISER site.
During the meeting, the 10-member Advisory Board announced the awarded projects following a highly competitive selection process. The Board was enthusiastic about WISER's proposals, continuing a legacy of successful and impactful projects that have resulted from the collaboration between the UConn and Albany.
The projects will expand WISER's research portfolio in weather and power outage prediction, energy demand, grid resilience, and risk management. "I am excited by the number of highly competitive proposals submitted by UConn faculty and look forward to growing UConn's research and technology innovation on energy resilience and security," Says Anagnostou.
This year WISER's Industry Advisory Board consists of ten members: Avangrid, Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp, Con Edison, Eversource Energy, Hydro‑Québec, National Grid, New York Power Authority, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, New York State Foundation for Science, Technology, and Innovation, and Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
The following are the eight WISER projects in which UConn will take part:
- Wind power resources for Northeast US under a changing climate (PI: M. Astitha, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering)
- Extreme heat metrics for more accurate energy demand prediction (PI: G. Wang, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering)
- Integrating interdisciplinary resilience indices for power outages and restorations (PI: W. Zhang, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering)
- Predicting extreme weather-induced power outages with spatially aware hybrid graph neural networks (PI: D. Song, School of Computing)
- A mapping tool for addressing socioeconomic and demographic disparities in power outage impacts (PI: A. Bagtzoglou, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering)
- Quantifying grid resiliency using GFM with HELICS co-simulation for enhancing outage management during the extreme weather events (PI: S.Y. Park, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
- Weather-power-grid testbed experiments for risk contingency management during hazards: cascading failures, fragility curves, and grid and weather monitoring needs (PI: M. Peña, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering)
- Snowstorm changes and their impact on power outages over the Northeast (co-PI: D. Cerrai, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering)
