Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) earlier this month signed agreements with Sandia, Los Alamos National Laboratories, and several New Mexico companies and municipal entities to assist in the creation of two smart grid demonstration projects, one at Mesa Del Sol and a second in Los Alamos County.

NEDO President Takefumi Fukumizu and Sandia Labs Director Tom Hunter during the NEDO delegation visit to Sandia.

Sandia will be providing technical expertise for the effort, including planning, modeling and simulation, data analysis, cyber security, and testing of smart grid technologies. DOE has actively encouraged interactions between NEDO and the US in several areas, including smart grid and renewable energy.

Among DOE technologies Sandia will be able to test in these demonstration projects are solar energy grid integration systems, energy storage, advanced cyber security R&D, microgrids/advanced controls, and grid-scale modeling and simulation. Because Japan’s in-country smart grid demo and test projects provide unique data for this project, the collaboration allows Sandia to demonstrate and compare Japanese technologies and exchange data with NEDO.

Gov. Bill Richardson initiated the New Mexico Green Grid Initiative in 2008 with the goal of becoming the first state with a full green grid. He has also set a goal of becoming the leading state in renewable energy export and becoming the center of the North American solar industry.

Prior to signing ceremonies and a media event at the Buffalo Thunder Resort in Pojoaque, N.M., announcing the projects, the NEDO delegation visited Sandia, where NEDO President Takefumi Fukumizu and Sandia President and Labs Director Tom Hunter were able to discuss the importance and potential of NEDO-Sandia collaborations.