NEW YORK – New York State has established partnerships with Ireland and Denmark by signing two separate memorandums of understanding in an effort to strengthen its power grids and increase the use of renewable energy sources, including offshore wind.

The agreements were announced during Climate Week.

The agreement with Ireland's electric utility and grid operator lays out plans to model, create and test new solutions for energy systems in the state's first collaborative electric utility research facility at the New York Power Authority (NYPA), NYPA said in the press release.

The collaboration between NYPA, Electricity Supply Board (ESB) – Irish state-owned utility, EirGrid Group – Irish state-owned electric power transmission operator, and the U.S.-based non-profit organization Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) aims to accelerate improvements to energy infrastructure, create more reliable and efficient electric grids, and integrate distributed generation and resources onto local and regional power grids.

The second agreement expands an ongoing partnership between the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the Danish Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Climate for the development and procurement of offshore wind energy.

The new electric utility and grid technologies developed under the New York-Irish agreement will be designed and tested in the Advanced Grid Innovation Laboratory for Energy (AGILe), located at NYPA's headquarters in White Plains, N.Y.

Source: NYPA