By Calvin Biesecker
Lockheed Martin [LMT] yesterday announced it has partnered with a number of utility companies to improve the nation’s electric grid and partnered with a leading university to research climate change and energy production and consumption, part of the company’s foray into the energy marketspace.
The energy and climate issue is the “next transformative initiative” in the United States and Lockheed Martin can bring a range of capabilities to bear for various solutions, Jim Kohlhass, vice president for Energy Initiatives and Technology at the corporate level, said at a media briefing. Lockheed Martin plans to help solve its customers’ needs regarding energy and climate, whether it be a military base seeking energy independence or countries seeking to decrease their carbon footprints, he said.
Kohlhass said that since the Vietnam War the fuel consumption related to the individual U.S. soldier has increased 175 percent, and with that has come a bigger logistics, and at times more vulnerable, tail.
The partnerships with utility companies involve cyber security solutions, program management support and smart grid consulting support. For example, Lockheed Martin is partnered with American Electric Power [AEP] to develop a cyber security operations center to enhance monitoring and operations throughout the utility’s gridSMART infrastructure.
Some of the renewable and alternative energy approaches Lockheed Martin plans to offer the energy market include solar power, energy storage systems, ocean thermal energy conversion, ocean wave energy and synthetic fuels from non-food resources, said Chris Myers, vice president of Solar Energy Program’s at the company’s Maritime Sensors and Solutions business.
The research partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a five-year, $5 million arrangement, with the centerpiece being a focus on global climate initiatives such as carbon modeling and verification and utility-scale energy storage.
The $5 million investment allows Lockheed Martin to be a Sustaining Member in the MIT Energy Initiative. The investment will permit targeted research in climate change, alternative energies and energy storage and management.
Energy and climate issues will require a number of innovations and capabilities that Lockheed Martin can offer, Kohlhass said. The most promising re-engineering technology breakthroughs will involve nanotechnology, he said. Composites, cyber security and micro-grids will also be needed, he added. Moreover, Lockheed Martin has sophisticated manufacturing capabilities in radar and space-related manufacturing that will be useful here, he added.