PowerSecure, a Southern Company subsidiary, is partnering with sustainable infrastructure company Endeavour to roll out Endeavour’s patented GridBlock platform for utilities. GridBlock technology simplifies integration of photovoltaics, energy storage and advanced DC services such as electric vehicle fleet charging, while also providing tools to improve grid resiliency.
GridBlock hardware manufacturing will be fully U.S.-based, with PowerSecure performing integration and assembly in its microgrid technology campus in Durham, N.C. The remaining manufacturing will be performed by Jabil Inc. in its U.S. factory footprint.
“As the market leader in advanced microgrids, with a long-term record of providing best-in-class industry reliability, PowerSecure is an ideal partner to work with our team in scaling this exciting technology,” states Jakob Carnemark, founder of Endeavour.
GridBlock is a software-defined energy router that manages the flow of energy between multiple sources and loads. It has the ability to create and operate a self-contained microgrid. GridBlock packetizes and routes electrical energy 250 times faster than the traditional grid frequency. The precision technology enables a bidirectional power flow on multiple ports or channels concurrently, bringing the flexibility and control of Internet routers and switches to the electrical grid. Increasingly, electrical installations require smart integration of EV or e-truck charging, battery storage, solar panels and critical loads, with custom design and build for each location adding to the cost of implementation. GridBlock simplifies all of this with a flexible, software-defined, modular solution that can manage a wide variety of end-use configurations and applications.
The core GridBlock unit, rated at 500 kW, is designed to expand by adding modular units to the multi-MW range and directly connect to the utility distribution grid at 4,000-34,000 volts. This makes it suitable for simultaneously charging multiple EVs and trucks, and utility scale installations with batteries, solar farms, fuel cells, hydrogen generation and/or generators. GridBlock can serve up to 16 DC or AC truck or car chargers—instantaneously switching to the voltage and output needed by each charger and allowing the infrastructure to be shared by multiple charging platforms at once. Multiple GridBlock units can automatically “swarm” together to service multi-MW EV truck loads and can interact with the truck’s charging system. The GridBlock platform, which will roll out globally, integrates hardware, software and financing into a turnkey infrastructure-as-a-service model. Endeavour has a large pipeline of active projects for the technology and is supporting companies that are accelerating the move to sustainable transport.
