Category: R&D

Long Duration Energy Storage Demonstration

MSL organized and is coordinating a Long Duration Energy Storage Research and Demonstration Pilot Project focused on innovations in flow battery technology. The project team unites GridFlow (a startup commercializing a novel technology spun out of Sandia National Laboratories), Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (KCEC, the utility serving the demonstration site in El Rito, NM), and MSL. The project has been awarded approximately $1 million from an energy storage grant program. (more…)



MSL teams for Advanced Storage Architectures

MSL and researchers from  the University of New Mexico and Sandia National Laboratories are collaborating on the development of a research project in Advanced Storage Architectures (ASA). This conceptual framework, developed by MSL, takes a holistic, systems innovation approach to optimizing the economic and operational deployment of energy storage throughout the grid. (more…)



MSL Joins Santa Fe Institute Working Group

MSL President David Breecker joined an invitational working group at the Santa Fe Institute (SFI, a global leader in complexity science) on “Governance Institutions for a Polycentric and Technologically Complex Electric Power Grid” in April, 2025. This was an invaluable opportunity to further deepen and develop MSL’s Complex Adaptive Grid initiative with a cohort of 12 national cross-disciplinary experts, which expects to continue meeting to develop a research agenda and activities in the governance domain. (more…)



MSL Launches “New Grid Paradigms” Initiative

In response to the urgent need for accelerated progress in grid modernization, MSL has launched a collaborative systems innovation approach under the rubric of “New Grid Paradigms” (NGP). The initiative seeks to catalyze a field of trans-disciplinary research, devoted to exploring and developing a fully integrated paradigm through a complex adaptive systems lens. This paradigm would be capable of eventually supporting the design, architecture, and implementation of a truly modernized, flexible, resilient, and decarbonized grid, using a systems innovation approach. (more…)



MSL Leads Advanced Grid Tech Seminar with NMSU

On May 19, 2023 MSL organized and led a seminar on advanced grid modernization technologies as part of a grant awarded to New Mexico State University by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program. MSL and The National Renewable Energy Laboratory are collaborators on the grant. Seminar presenters included the NMSU research team; researchers from Los Alamos, Sandia, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratories; and Camus Energy (all MSL consortium Members).

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MSL, RIT, Navajo Tech Win Energy Sovereignty Grant

MSL, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Navajo Technical University have been awarded a grant from the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) program to further the partners’ work with Native American communities in the tribal energy sovereignty area. PIT-UN’s mission is to help advance the field of public interest technology to bring positive impact to communities around the globe. MSL’s Energy Sovereignty Institute (ESI) initiative will also participate. (more…)



MSL, NMSU, NREL Awarded DOE Research Grant

Update October 6, 2022: MSL, New Mexico State University, and The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (an MSL Member) have been awarded a grant by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program, for Building EPSCoR-State/DOE-National Laboratory Partnerships. The team’s proposal, “Building a federated learning framework for trustworthy and resilient energy internet of things (eIoT) infrastructure,” focuses on Federated Machine Learning (FML), and the research funded will approach several FML-related aspects of smart grid data architectures and applications. (more…)



Update: Resilient El Rito project awarded engineering funds

Update 2/17/23: The Resilient El Rito community resilience microgrid demonstration project with Northern New Mexico College has awarded the engineering stage contract to Kit Carson Electric Coop. Work will begin presently, and we hope to move on to construction soon.

Update 8/25/22: The the NM Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Dept. (EMNRD) has recommended the Resilient El Rito project for engineering stage funding through its Grid Modernization program.  We expect this work could commence at the start of the new year, with Northern NM College as the primary recipient. In addition, EMNRD advises that they expect there will be federal funds available for the construction stage when we complete engineering, for which Kit Carson Electric Coop can compete. (more…)



You’re invited! MSL produces 3rd Annual NM Energy Summit

MSL is once again producing the annual NM Distributed Energy Summit (virtual). Please join us on Zoom for this important event:

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MSL Teams with NMSU, NREL for DOE Proposal

MSL has teamed with New Mexico State University and The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (an MSL Member) for a proposal to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program, for a Building EPSCoR-State/DOE-National Laboratory Partnerships grant. The team’s proposal, “Building a federated learning framework for trustworthy and resilient energy internet of things (eIoT) infrastructure,” focuses on Federated Machine Learning (FML). It was selected by DOE at the pre-proposal stage for full proposal submission, and it approaches several FML-related aspects of smart grid data architectures and applications.

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