Looped In

By Simon Morrow

During a visit to Mies Campus in October, Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker announced $5 million in state funding for the university’s campus microgrid, which will allow Illinois Tech to construct four new loops to its system, completing the university’s original vision for the project.

Beyond its benefits for the university and its sustainability efforts, the microgrid offers Illinois Tech students a chance to play a role. Much of the design and development for the microgrid has been driven by Ph.D. students in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

“We have converted the campus to a living laboratory in the sense that right now we practice what we preach,” says Bodine Chair Professor Mohammad Shahidehpour. “We go to teach our classes, and we tell students about these ideas. Now, we can demonstrate at all levels how this technology works.“

With its completion on the horizon, here’s a brief history of the Illinois Tech microgrid:

—Early 2000s

Power demand on Illinois Institute of Technology’s Mies Campus was reaching the limits of what its existing power substations could handle. Outages were occurring multiple times per year, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. Instead of repairing that system, the university aimed to build its own electricity infrastructure by developing a microgrid, an “islandable,” looped system (where power moves both ways) that would provide more reliability as compared to a traditional radial system, where power moves in one direction.

—2008

Supported by $5 million that was originally planned for substation upgrades and an $8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, Bodine Chair Professor Mohammad Shahidehpour begins the development of one of the first microgrids in the nation.

—2013

Work on the first phase of the microgrid finishes; three loops were completed, covering half of Mies Campus. Illinois Tech has saved $10 million dollars by utilizing the microgrid, including an average of $200,000 per year in energy savings.

—2021

Shahidehpour was awarded $5 million by the State of Illinois to install four new loops in Illinois Tech’s microgrid over the next two years, completing the original vision for the microgrid and further increasing the system’s reliability.

From Issue:

Fall 2021

Category:

Research Briefs

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