The project is part of a $1.2m contract awarded by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to Alstom last year.
The Microgrid Center of Excellence will help advance the microgrid technologies, as part of grid modernization project of the Navy Yard.
The upgrade project will allow a portion of the The Navy Yard to be self-sufficient to generate, manage and store electricity as well as operate independently from the main grid in case of outage.
Alstom Grid North America president Michael Atkinson said: "Microgrids will play a key role in the modernization of the energy grid and The Navy Yard project will help advance this technology platform in the future."
Alstom will integrate energy management and substation automation technology to provide Utility-Customer Nexus in a Box to support functions such as microgrid islanding, synchronization and reconnection, protection, voltage, frequency, power quality management and dispatch and system resiliency.
Penn State research vice president Neil Sharkey said: "We are working to spur real innovation and job growth, as well as boost the efficiency of current technologies.
"Energy efficiency is one of the easiest ways to improve our competitiveness and reduce costs."
The project team comprises Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), California Institute of Energy and Environment (CIEE), Washington State University (WSU), Burns Group, among others.
