The National Center for Reliable Electric Power Transmission Test Facility

Abstract

Globally, new technological solutions are being studied and developed by researchers in the field of power and energy systems. Before these solutions can be integrated into society as marketable products, thorough testing and validation of the design must be conducted. The National Center for Reliable Electric Power Transmission (NCREPT) is a unique high-power test facility located at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA. NCREPT is a 12,000-square-foot laboratory space capable of testing power levels up to 6 MVA and offers testing at both the 480 V and 13.8 kV levels. NCREPT's capabilities expand outside of the scope of simply high-power testing. NCREPT has also supported experimental testing for transportation electrification, hardware-in-the-loop, and cybersecurity applications. NCREPT has personnel with experience testing new technologies and has demonstrated its innovative approaches by being a part of four R&D 100 award-winning projects. This paper gives an extensive overview of NCREPT, highlighting its significance as a state-of-the-art testing laboratory.INDEX TERMS cybersecurity, hardware-in-the-loop, high-power test facility, measurement, medium voltage, power and energy, testing, transportation electrification, safety.