Cummins’ New State-Of-The-Art Facility Will Help Power Systems Meet Sustainability Goals

Cummins’ Destination Zero Strategy commits the company to meeting the world’s sustainabilitychallenges by delivering a broad portfolio of innovative power solutions. Recently, Cummins Inc.celebrated the grand opening of its new microgrid lab called the Power Integration Center (PIC)at their Power Systems facility in Fridley, Minnesota (U.S.).

“The PIC is the realization of a significant investment in engineering technology and innovationthat will impact how companies use and build power systems to meet sustainability goals for agreener future,” said Gary Johansen, Vice President – Power Systems Engineering and ProjectSponsor.

With changing governmental regulations, increasing cost of operation, inclement weatherconditions, and the instability of power grids, customers are driving the need for more reliableand efficient microgrid solutions. The Power Integration Center allows the ability to experimentwith multiple potential power system solutions directly along with Cummins engineers. Thisallows for timesaving, cost-saving, and the ability to optimize a unique power system for theirproject.

The PIC is a state-of-the-art facility allowing for the configuration, integration, and testing ofpower system technologies including diesel and natural gas generator sets, photovoltaic (PV)solar panels, battery storage systems, fuel cells, transfer switches, switchgear, and system-levelcontrols.

The facility spans 20,000 square feet of lab space including an outdoor test area, mainswitchgear room, electrical mezzanine, and engineering control room. Many different types ofassets such as generator sets, energy storage systems, fuel cells, and inverters can be broughtin for testing in a wide variety of possible microgrid configurations.

“We are always looking for ways to react to the needs of the market and improve our business,added Johansen. “Our customers are placing an even higher value on flexible and well-integrated solutions and this center will help us speed up the time it takes to deliver those newsolutions.”

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