The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. will partner with National Grid and Landis+Gyr for an energy study that will develop strategies to improve reliability, sustainability, and the quality of energy used on the Medical Campus. Landis+Gyr, a global leader in the smart grid and energy management industry, will provide the critical networking infrastructure, grid sensors, software and services necessary for data collection and analysis. This study and the implementation of its findings is another example of the innovative energy partnership between the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and National Grid.
Funded by NYSERDA and National Grid, the study will be conducted by Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and will support the continued growth of the Medical Campus and Buffalo Niagara Region by exploring and evaluating distributed and renewable energy sources against the existing distribution system on-and-around the Campus to accomplish targeted grid modernization and to realize grid resiliency. The objectives of the project are to:
- Monitor the power system characteristics for various voltage levels and benchmark the existing power quality and reliability environment.
- Identify power quality and energy efficiency optimization possibilities throughout the local power grid and within BNMC member institutions.
- Analyze results in the context of improving electric power for end-users by combining attributes of both the grid and distributed energy resources.
- Determine the benefit of innovative systems such as microgrids and renewable energy sources to improve the reliability, sustainability, and quality of the power system.
- Determine the feasibility of implementing a self-sustainable energy hub for the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and surrounding areas.
Planning for the study has already begun and implementation will likely begin by the end of this month. The program will collect data over the duration of the project, with concurrent analysis and development strategies to be shared throughout. The end result of the study will be key information that will feed into the BNMC’s existing Energy Innovation Plan, and will include the exploration of smart grid, smart metering, micro-grid, utility asset utilization, and renewable energy resources.
The energy partnership between National Grid and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus is designed to develop integrated solutions that will drive economic growth in the Buffalo Niagara region and position all partners as global energy leaders. This partnership represents the first of its kind energy innovation between a global utility and a community-engaged medical and technology park.
According to Paul Tyno, director of energy initiatives, BNMC, Inc., “Managing energy use on the Medical Campus is a top priority for BNMC, Inc., and this study is critical to develop an energy innovation strategy to address energy needs now and into the future. Our growing campus, particularly our clinical and research facilities, have a need for continuous, high-quality power and we want to be proactive in providing sustainable solutions, whether through modernization of the existing grid or through renewable sources. The addition of Landis+Gyr to our team allows us to leverage their energy expertise and to work with an experienced provider of smart grid solutions that will be a great benefit to us in collecting the necessary data.”
