Tech Tours (add on)

 

Cost: To Be Announced

Go behind the scenes and experience the GSOC Transmission Control Center that keeps the power system operating safely and reliably. During this exclusive Control Center Tour, you'll discover how highly skilled operators, advanced technologies, and real-time data work together to monitor the electric grid, respond to changing system conditions, and ensure electricity is delivered to homes, businesses, and critical infrastructure in the state of Georgia.

Participants will:

• Experience behind-the-scenes access to the GSOC Transmission Control Center
• See an overview of real-time grid operations and system monitoring
• Gain insights into how operators respond to changing system conditions
• Look at the technologies that support reliable electric service
• Have the opportunity to ask questions and engage with Control Center experts

Whether you're new to the energy industry or an experienced professional, this tour is designed to make complex concepts accessible. Our experts will translate sophisticated grid operations, system monitoring, and decision-making processes into clear, engaging, and easy-to-understand explanations—no engineering background required.

You'll leave with a greater appreciation for the technology, teamwork, and precision required to manage one of the nation's most critical infrastructures, along with a deeper understanding of how the Control Center helps keep the lights on every day for our Members.

Important Notes:

• Photography is not permitted during the tour.
• Transportation will be provided.
• Attendees are required to wear comfortable clothing and closed-toe shoes. 
• A government-issued photo ID is required for access.

 

Cost: To Be Announced

Step inside the future of energy and explore how microgrids are transforming the way electricity is generated, managed, and delivered in the state of Georgia. This interactive tour offers a behind-the-scenes look at an innovative energy system designed to improve reliability, resilience, sustainability, and operational flexibility. 

You'll see how technologies such as renewable energy, battery energy storage, intelligent controls, and distributed energy resources work together to power facilities—even during grid disruptions. This microgrid is a grid-connected and island-capable energy system that combines a 250 kW/500 kWh battery energy storage system (BESS), 240 kW of solar PV, and a 140 kW propane generator to improve reliability, reduce peak demand, and support resilient operation during utility outages. It can intelligently manage energy flows, charge and discharge batteries, smooth renewable generation, control facility loads and seamlessly transition between normal grid-connected operation and independent islanded operation to maintain power to the GTC warehouse. While the technology is cutting-edge, our experts will explain each component in clear, everyday language, making complex engineering concepts easy to understand regardless of your technical background.

Participants will: 

• See a working microgrid in action and learn how it keeps critical facilities powered during utility outages.  
• Explore key technologies including solar photovoltaic (PV), battery energy storage systems (BESS), backup generation, and intelligent energy management controls.  
• Learn how grid-connected and islanded operation work and how the microgrid seamlessly transitions between the two modes.  
• Discover how microgrids improve reliability, resilience, and sustainability while helping reduce peak demand and optimize energy use.  
• Hear from industry experts who will explain the technology in clear, accessible language and answer your questions.  
• Gain real-world insights into how microgrids are supporting communities, campuses, businesses, and critical infrastructure across Georgia and beyond. 

Whether you're an energy professional, student, or simply curious about the future of the electric grid, you'll gain valuable insight into how microgrids are helping communities, campuses, and businesses build a more resilient and sustainable energy future. Come discover how innovation is reshaping the power grid—one microgrid at a time. 

Important Notes: 

• Attendees are required to wear comfortable clothing and closed-toe shoes. 
• Photography is not permitted during the tour. 
• A government-issued photo ID is required for access. 
• Transportation and lunch will be provided. 

    

Cost: To Be Announced

Developed by the Georgia Tech Research Corporation alongside Southern Company and EPRI, this $2.6 million ARPA-E project represents the definitive blueprint for the next generation of grid security. Instead of relying on complex, settings-based protection schemes, this initiative introduces a centralized and autonomous protection system using setting-less relays which make coordination of relay settings obsolete for the modern substation. 

Tour attendees will step inside the facility to experience:

• The Command Center: Witness the vulnerability of protection and control of legacy grid infrastructure and explore the causes of relay mis-operations especially for IBR dominated power systems; quantify the decreased reliability of the modern power system. 
• The Digital Shield: Explore how digitization of the grid leads naturally to centralized protection and control, monitoring the health of an entire substation in real time with minimal delays, and providing operator with critical details of the operation of the system at frequencies that are not possible with legacy systems. 
• The Self-Healing Lab: Watch the system instantly detect hidden failures and malicious cyberattacks, by leveraging data redundancy; detection is followed by identification of the root cause and self-healing and maintain power normal operation of the system. 
• The Clean Energy Horizon: Discover how this level of structural resilience paves the way for onboarding massive amounts of wind and solar power and the subsequent benefits, including drastic reduction in carbon emissions. 

By transitioning into a fully digitalized grid protection and control, this project offers an intelligent, self-monitored and self-defending system immune to the effects of IBR dominated power systems of reduced fault currents, reduced inertia and new faster dynamics; it offers utility leaders a firsthand look at the future of operational resilience. Attendees can come away from it with a tangible roadmap to transition their legacy substations into automated, self-defending assets built for the IBR dominated power system. 

   

Cost: To Be Announced 

This exclusive technical tour takes you behind the scenes of Georgia Power’s premier demonstration project in Atlanta's Technology Square. Attendees will be able to step inside a real-world, high-density urban microgrid that seamlessly integrates into both high-density underground networks and overhead feeder system. These capabilities showcase how the facility serves as a cutting-edge living lab that provides a baseline around what it means to effectively study grid resiliency, system stability, and end-to-end customer load integration. 

On this tour, attendees will get an up-close look at a diverse mix of operational Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), including: 

• Fuel Cell Innovation: A 200kW Bloom fuel cell. 
• Advanced Storage: A 200kW Samsung battery energy storage system (BESS). 
• Dynamic Generation: A 1025kW PowerSecure 
• PowerBlock, featuring two 200kW Natural Gas generators and a 625kW Diesel generator. 

Space is limited! Add this behind-the-scenes look at Georgia Power’s living lab to your DTECH registration today to better understand real-world DER integration, smart energy management, and next-generation utility frameworks. 

Important Notes: 

• Attendees are required to wear closed-toe shoes.  
• Photography is not permitted during the tour. 
• Transportation will be provided.