UTA Engineer Awarded $500K NSF CAREER Grant to Advance Grid Stability with Renewable Energy
Yichen Zhang, assistant professor of electrical engineering at The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), has received a prestigious NSF CAREER Award totaling $500,067 to improve the stability and safety of power systems integrating large-scale inverter-based resources (IBRs) such as solar, wind, and battery storage.
Zhang’s project focuses on grid-forming control (GFM) technologies, which emulate traditional synchronous generators to help stabilize voltage and frequency on modern power grids. Unlike conventional grid-following inverters, GFMs proactively support grid reliability and are seen as essential to the clean energy transition.
“GFMs mimic synchronous generators so the grid becomes more reliable and stable,” Zhang said. “We are trying to provide guidelines to set control parameters based on grid operating conditions.”
Industry collaborators, including the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and Oncor, will advise Zhang’s team to help align their models with real-world grid operations.
Zhang, who joined UTA in 2022 from Argonne National Laboratory, brings expertise in power systems, power electronics, and renewable integration. His work will help inform how utility operators manage renewable-driven grids while reducing reliance on fossil fuels.