At NLR, laboratory experts created a simulation tool that can recreate a data center and power grid — a tool that does not exist anywhere else. With that platform, the researchers could probe Verrus’ data center design to better understand how it might handle real-world scenarios. (Image: Agata Bogucka, National Laboratory of the Rockies)

Most data centers are constructed in remote locations, which makes field repairs especially costly — approximately $50,000 to $100,000 per day, according to Kumaraguru Prabakar, Ph.D., M.B.A, Principal Engineer, NLR  . But there is a better, more affordable, comprehensive way to check for potential errors before a company deploys its technology.

“We do this in a controlled environment,” Prabakar said. “They remote into the machine. They run their codes. It’s not rushed. You have all the time in the world. If something goes bad, it’s an experiment. Nothing is broken. There’s no bad publicity or anything. Everybody wins.”

The “machine” Prabakar is referring to is NLR’s Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) platform. ARIES can simulate the electrical brains behind a single device or an entire country. Prabakar and his colleagues connected Verrus  ’ code — their electric brain — to simulated power grids and ran as many real-world scenarios as possible.

“These codes run 24/7, 365 days a year. They have to make decisions every second, so it’s highly important that they don’t break,” Prabakar said.

If the code does break in the field, that could lead to data center downtime, which can cause financial and reputational damage. To help avoid this, Verrus and NLR experts pushed the system to extremes to break it in the safety of a low-cost, risk-free imaginary universe. The team used ARIES to check a whopping 10,000 to 20,000 lines of code. Just one error can impact a data center’s operations. But ARIES’ digital real-time simulators can rapidly subject the software to millions of real-time simulated situations. The platform can identify potential errors in just two days, as opposed to months of in-house testing, according to Prabakar.

“That’s the beauty of ARIES,” Prabakar said. “We’ve been building these new experimental capabilities that let us finish projects in a quarter of the time and a quarter of the cost that it used to take.”

NLR and the U.S. Department of Energy officially launched the ARIES platform in 2020. With ARIES, researchers can accurately simulate real-world energy systems — vast webs of energy technologies that include single devices, like smart phones or batteries; and integrated systems, like data centers, cities, or entire regions.

“ARIES offers significant opportunities not just for data center operators but also utilities that are facing growing challenges around adding power to the grid and managing lengthy interconnection processes,” said Andrew Hudgins, Acting Lab Program Manager, ARIES.

Thanks to ARIES, Hudgins continued, “we have the capabilities to solve larger system-wide issues that if not addressed would exacerbate problems on the grid.” In other words, the platform can help anticipate problems before they exist. And it can help companies build the reciprocal relationships the country needs to build a powerful future.

Here is an exclusive Tech Briefs interview, edited for length and clarity, with Prabakar.

Tech Briefs: Can you explain in simple terms how ARIES works please?

Prabakar: ARIES is an at-scale experimental capability that is tailored for gird-integration challenges. It is a sandbox for engineers to bring technologies at-scale in a realistic, controlled environment to run different experiments, understand behaviors of the technologies, and, if necessary, create patches or improvements.

This is a good paper: Microgrid Controllers : Expanding Their Role and Evaluating Their Performance | IEEE Journals & Magazine | IEEE Xplore  . Chapter 8 in this book Power System Protection in Future Smart Grids: Achieving Reliable Operation ... - Google Books  also answers some of this.

Tech Briefs: Do you have any set plans for further research/work/etc.?

Prabakar: We have multiple targets for research in this space, from planning to operations. We have some additional reports that you can read that provide insights on where the research is going:

Tech Briefs: Is there anything else you’d like to add that I didn’t touch upon?

Prabakar: These capabilities were built over the last decade for utilities to solve their grid integration challenges. Data centers and utilities are leveraging these capabilities and pushing this experimental side of the field to next steps. This is a fortunate turn of events and is supporting the speed to power goals.

Tech Briefs: Do you have any advice for researchers aiming to bring their ideas to fruition?

Prabakar: Someone told me: 1) Make progress every day, one step at a time. 2) Collaborate with others and leverage each other’s strengths. This is what we try to do.

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