NASA partners with Virginia Energy for better power planning

NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, has joined forces with the state’s Department of Energy to help plan the future of power in the Commonwealth. The partnership, formalized under a new Space Act Agreement, will give Virginia Energy access to NASA’s atmospheric science data so the state can model electricity demand, generation, and system stress under different weather conditions.

NASA data helps Virginia plan for weather

NASA will provide solar, meteorological, and future weather risk datasets that show how extreme weather can affect power grids. By feeding these datasets into Virginia Energy’s planning tools, the agency can evaluate how changes in temperature and solar output influence demand and system stress.

During a ceremony on Friday, the Deputy Director of Langley, Allen Kilgore, and Virginia Energy Director Vince Maiden signed the agreement. Kilgore said the collaboration would put unique science data into the hands of people who want to improve lives, and that the partnership would strengthen the state’s energy security for its citizens.

The link between NASA and Virginia Energy is built on the POWER web platform, a digital pipeline that lets the state pull tailored datasets directly into its modeling tools. NASA’s POWER team will work with Virginia researchers to adjust formats and evaluate the need for additional data, making the data ready for use in models that design generation systems and forecast production.

With NASA’s data, Virginians can better anticipate demand, prepare for extreme weather, and spot vulnerabilities in the grid. The result should be a more reliable and resilient power system.