PIs: Javad Khazaei and Farrah Moazeni
University: Lehigh University
Industry partners: Siemens and Siemens R&D
This one-year project addresses the emerging control and grid-integration challenges of modern data centers, which increasingly operate as inverter-dominated microgrids with fast, workload-driven power dynamics and stringent power-quality requirements. The project aims to develop stability-guaranteed control frameworks that ensure reliable operation of data center microgrids across grid-connected and islanded modes while remaining compatible with industrial microgrid platforms developed by Siemens. The work focuses on control-oriented dynamic modeling of inverter-based systems, rigorous stability analysis under high inverter penetration and weak grid conditions, and the design of grid-following and grid-forming control strategies with smooth mode transitions. Hierarchical and predictive control layers are incorporated to coordinate multiple inverters, manage voltage and frequency, and account for anticipated workload-driven demand variations in real time, with validation under realistic grid disturbances using real-time simulation and hardware-in-the-loop environments. This project also establishes a new partnership between Siemens and Lehigh University that directly advances the objectives of the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance by linking industrial innovation with academic research to strengthen Pennsylvania’s energy and digital infrastructure, accelerate technology transfer, and support workforce development in advanced power systems and microgrid control.