SEQUINS project to coordinate smart grid for the Pacific Northwest

Portland State University has been awarded a $1 million grant for the SEQUINS (Smart, EQUitable, INteroperable and Secure) smart grid project.

SEQUINS is intended to coordinate major players in the US Pacific Northwest to make a truly ‘smart’ electrical grid a reality.

Over a two-year period, the project will identify obstacles to large-scale smart grid growth and develop plans to overcome them through research, entrepreneurship, workforce training, strategic government investments and business collaborations.

If successful, the SEQUINS planning phase could result in up to $160 million in National Science Foundation implementation funding for regional businesses, entrepreneurs, academic institutions and others, with the ultimate goal of transforming the Pacific Northwest into a global smart grid leader.

Have you read?
Novel smart water grid proposal funded in Australia
The EU Clean Energy Package and the smart grid

“The partners will develop a strategic plan to promote the development of an innovative smart grid technology ecosystem that delivers prosperity and energy equity to our region,” says Robert Bass, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at PSU’s Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science.

The project brings together over thirty stakeholders from across the Pacific Northwest including national laboratories and industry and academic institutions.

The project is planned to innovate smart energy products and services, with an emphasis on interoperability principles that specify private and trustworthy information exchange among participants.

With this, the SEQUINS ecosystem should foster the growth of a regional ecosystem that enables large-scale participation within energy exchange networks based on open communication protocols, customer-driven transactions, privacy protection, state-of-the-art cybersecurity and open-to-all practices.

Together, these features should enable dynamic operation of energy assets that prioritise national energy security, reduce critical infrastructure vulnerability to climate-driven events, and provide universal energy equity.

Throughout the work, the focus will be on energy equity, so that everyone in the region, regardless of location and income, benefits from the investments and the job opportunities this project will create.