Montgomery County’s Microgrid Electric Bus Depot Under Construction

Sept. 14, 2021
Construction of a 5.6 MW microgrid with distributed energy generation, energy storage, and over 2 MW of charging capacity is now underway at the Brookville Smart Energy Bus Depot in Montgomery County, Maryland, outside of Washington, D.C.

Construction of a 5.6 MW microgrid with distributed energy generation, energy storage and over 2 MW of charging capacity is now underway at the Brookville Smart Energy Bus Depot in Montgomery County, Maryland, outside of Washington, D.C., after groundbreaking on Sept. 9.

AlphaStruxure, a joint venture between Schneider Electric and the Carlyle Group, designed, and will build and deliver, the project for the county, using an energy-as-a-service model that doesn’t require the county to make upfront payments. 

AlphaStruxure will implement a strategy to transition the on-site gas generation to carbon-neutral sources after operation begins, allowing the microgrid to run on 100% renewable energy in alignment with the county’s goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2035. 

“The Brookville Smart Energy Bus Depot project falls in line with our ambitious climate action plan to reduce all carbon emissions by 2035,” said Marc Elrich, county executive. “This bus depot is one component of many county projects that is making a difference for our environment such as converting our fleets to electric and reducing harmful emissions. This infrastructure project will improve the county’s resilience, and we are proud to be at the forefront amongst local governments when it comes to projects like this.”

Montgomery County is committed to sustainability, leadership and improving resilience to climate change after experiencing extreme weather events and extended power outages in the recent past. Statewide, Maryland is working toward a 50% zero-emission bus fleet by 2030. 

“Decarbonizing the transportation sector is critical to mitigating climate change, making fleet electrification a priority for local governments and transit agencies. The transition to zero-emission fleets is not without its challenges,” said Juan Macias, CEO of AlphaStruxure. “With AlphaStruxure, fleet owners and operators have a trusted partner in realizing their electrification, sustainability and resilience goals with the Carlyle Group’s comprehensive financial capabilities and Schneider Electric’s leading distributed energy and digital automation technology.”

SunPower will design and build the project’s solar photovoltaic canopies. Other vendors include AB Energy USA, Dynapower, ChargePilot, Heliox and Mortenson. Arup will serve as engineer of record. AlphaStruxure will operate the project via a cloud-connected network operations center providing 24/7/365 operations, monitoring and optimization of energy performance.

The project should be complete by mid-2022, with 44 buses transitioning from diesel to electric, and powered by on-site clean energy. The Ride On Montgomery County’s microgrid is expected to reduce lifetime emissions by 62%, equivalent to the reduction of 155,000 tons of greenhouse gases.

Track news about electric vehicles and microgrids. Subscribe to the free Microgrid Knowledge Newsletter.

About the Author

Sharon Bennett

Related Content

In the Race to 100% Renewable Energy, Islands Will Win — With the Right Grid Improvements

March 18, 2024
Looked at individually, islands are often overlooked as unimportant players on the global economic stage. Smaller geographies, smaller communities, fewer resources, and often ...
petrmalinak / Shutterstock.com

DOE Funds Long-Duration Energy Storage Microgrid for California Tribe

March 18, 2024
The U.S. Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office has made a conditional commitment to provide a $72.8 million partial loan guarantee for the development of a solar plus long...
Image credit Tommy Lee Walker/Shutterstock

Microgrids Help Create Data Centers that Don’t Break the Grid or the Environment

March 18, 2024
A new model for data center design uses microgrids to provide flexibility and clean energy that reduces grid stress. Other models focus on modular data center design and providing...
Brandon Olafsson / Shutterstock.com

Department of Energy Spending Up to $200M Connecting Remote Microgrids

March 15, 2024
The U.S. Department of Energy is currently accepting proposals for transmission projects that would connect remote and isolated microgrids to each other or to existing transmission...

Only through Standardization Can Microgrids Accelerate the Energy Transition

Jan. 18, 2024
Jana Gerber, North America microgrid president at Schneider Electric discusses how standardizing microgrids will accelerate the energy transition.

Clearfield Header 2
Clearfield Header 2
Clearfield Header 2
Clearfield Header 2
Clearfield Header 2

Making Sure Fiber Customer Turn-ups are Done Right the First Time

Fiber is being installed at a pace the industry has never seen before, with more deployments, more customer connections, and fewer people to do the skilled work. This FAQ takes...