GridBright to Develop a Secure Grid Data Exchange for ARPA-E
February 14, 2019
GridBright was awarded $2.5 million to develop a simple and secure solution for sharing cyber-sensitive electric grid operations data.
Alamo, CA –
GridBright, Inc. announced today that was awarded $2.5 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The funding will be used to develop a simple and secure solution for sharing cyber-sensitive electric grid operations data between utilities, energy markets, power producers, regulators, and others.
“Modern grid operation is a complex and cooperative process among hundreds of entities sharing data about grid conditions, wind and solar production estimates, and shifting customer energy demands”, according to Travis Rouillard, GridBright CTO. “We need new ways to share all this data securely while protecting against the constant threat of malicious cyber-attacks.”
GridBright received this competitive award from ARPA-E’s OPEN+ program, a project inspired by the agency’s OPEN funding solicitations, in which teams develop innovative technologies to transform the nation’s energy system. The agency decided to create the OPEN+ cohorts—drawing from the large and impressive OPEN 2018 application pool—to focus on particular topics in energy where ARPA-E sees significant opportunities to innovate and create new communities.
The Secure Grid Data Exchange (SGDX) will combine off-the-shelf encryption and peer-to-peer computing technologies into a simple and secure solution for sharing data between counterparties. The solution addresses the industry’s security concerns and creates a pathway to boost grid safety, reliability, and efficiency, and lower the cost of electricity for consumers.
GridBright will be the lead organization responsible for the development of SGDX. It will be supported by Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), Rook Security, University of California at Berkeley, and utility industry stakeholders. It will build on the BetterGrids Repository, a public grid data sharing solution also developed by GridBright with funding from DOE ARPA-E.
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