Texas Tech University

GLEAMM Continues Work on Smart, Secure Energy System

By: Karen Michael 

power lines

Funding of $13 million from the state of Texas for the Global Laboratory for Energy Asset Management and Manufacturing, or GLEAMM, ended in January, but the program continues its work towards a smart, secure, and resilient energy system.

GLEAMM Director Sandeep Nimmagadda was hired to run the laboratory in August. He said GLEAMM continues to work to combine research and commercialization expertise at Texas Tech University with the field testing, certification, and development expertise of the university's Office of Research and Innovation, the Innovation Hub,  and Group NIRE. 

Nimmagadda earned his doctorate in electrical engineering from Texas Tech in 2014, and previously worked as the electrical engineering manager at Apex Clean Energy.

sandeep nimmagada
Sandeep Nimmagadda

Although the GLEAMM funding that started the program ended earlier this year, Nimmagadda said the program continues to focus on advancing the demonstration of innovations from within the university, as well as the commercialization potential of new technologies from private companies.

“The goal of all this is to achieve a smart, secure, and resilient energy system,” Nimmagadda said.

GLEAMM, Nimmagadda said, is unique in its support for both university researchers and small businesses in the energy field.

“If someone has an idea and they have done enough research on it, we allow them to actually implement their idea and test it out. So that is a demonstration of research that is being achieved within the university,” Nimmagadda said.

Those same facilities are available to small businesses, he said, allowing them to test, certify, and go commercial at a much faster rate than usual.

Nimmagadda said GLEAMM will work with faculty, student researchers, and private companies to assist them in seeking grant money from both the government and private companies.

Currently GLEAMM is supporting about three research projects that are scheduled to demonstrate their technology at the GLEAMM test bed. GLEAMM is also working with four small businesses, Nimmagadda said. One company is working on an energy management system for energy storage, while another is focused on a power converter technology that will remove the use of transformers.

Most of the demonstration projects are focused around hybrid generation, energy storage, and load demand response, Nimmagadda said.

A lot of the research focus of the GLEAMM program is centered around resiliency and hybrid generation to reduce carbon emissions, as well as energy storage, he said. On a more focused level, research includes cyber physical security, energy management of power-hungry loads like digital data centers, and disaster management due to extreme weather events on critical energy infrastructure.