The Electrical Grid Resilience and Assessment System (EGRASS) project at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) not only won a prestigious international R&D 100 Award, but it was also awarded a gold medal in corporate social responsibility for its work in Puerto Rico.

EGRASS is a software package that has advanced the ability of emergency managers and power planners to anticipate and prepare for storm impacts. EGRASS, which is cloud based and accessible through a web browser (with permission), simulates hurricanes and other natural hazard events, helping energy managers plan for flooding, landslides, and other storm-related damage.

And it’s especially critical now, in the age of climate change, when catastrophic storms and natural disasters hit historic proportions every year.

EGRASS played a vital role in helping Puerto Rican emergency personnel plan for severe weather events. In fact, it was Hurricane Maria’s devastating impact on Puerto Rico in 2017 that inspired the EGRASS team into action.

Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm, destroyed 80% of the island's power grid and caused the longest blackout in U.S. history. In response, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) partnered with the Department of Energy (DOE) and PNNL partnered with utilities in Puerto Rico to build a more resilient power grid and help power planners better prepare for future hurricanes.

“We’re truly honored for this recognition, which serves to validate our team and sponsor’s dedication and commitment to preparing our communities for when a natural disaster strikes,” said Vishvas Chalishazar, senior electrical engineer at PNNL and project manager for EGRASS.

What makes EGRASS particularly powerful is that it was designed in close collaboration with those on the front lines making decisions when storms loom near.

“We have built EGRASS with input from engineers that deal with the complexities of emergency preparation and response firsthand,” said Marcelo Elizondo, principal power systems engineer and PNNL project portfolio lead.

EGRASS integrates expertise and models from several domains, including climate science, grid modeling, cloud architecture, emergency response modeling, and data visualization. By merging advanced simulation tools within a singular tool, EGRASS can predict the intensity and impact of extreme weather events such as hurricanes and tropical storms on electrical grids and critical infrastructure.

“This collaboration has led to powerful opportunities for developing proactive solutions for planning and preparation with respect to natural hazard events,” said Patrick Royer, data scientist and geospatial analyst. “We continue to learn and calibrate as we observe an increase in the frequency and intensity of natural hazard events globally.”

EGRASS can also help users better estimate and predict damage and probability of failure of specific grid components and improve how they respond and recover from hurricanes. EGRASS also provides invaluable visualization capabilities, helping planners foresee sequences of damage, project outages, and develop strategies to safeguard and restore grid functionality.

The Puerto Rico Energy Power Authority (PREPA), and the operator and administrator of the Transmission and Distribution System in Puerto Rico, LUMA Energy, have adopted EGRASS as their primary tool for power planning around extreme weather events. The tool was also instrumental in establishing the LUMA Response Center, where EGRASS is used as the planning guide during disaster scenarios.

EGRASS has caught the attention of other utilities. Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc., the largest electricity supplier in Hawaii, has enlisted PNNL’s help in implementing EGRASS for disaster preparedness and grid planning.

“We will continue to evolve the EGRASS framework with its new, ongoing implementation in Hawaii, working with the utility, which will bring additional perspectives into the tool,” said Elizondo.

The EGRASS team also includes Tycko Franklin, Fernando Bereta dos Reis, Alexandre Nassif, Xue (Michelle) Li, Xiaoyuan Fan, Kaitlyn He, Joshua Wassing, Jennifer Fanning, Paul Tran, Yusuf Afzal, Alexander Buchko, Frank Lopez, Jesus Fernandez, Joseph Loftus, Hung Luu, Wei Du, and Kevin Schneider.