The energy industry is poised for what some describe as a sizable investment shift. Oil and gas lose, and power wins with the growing electrification of transportation and buildings. So what does this mean for microgrids? Mark Feasel, vice president of smart grid, Schneider Electric, offered insight in a recent interview leading up to … [Read more...]
Clean Coalition is on a mission to alter transmission access charges that the organization says unfairly boost the cost of local renewable energy and community microgrids in California. Eliminating the charges for locally produced renewables would lower the cost of renewable energy and microgrids, paving the way for more of both, says Craig … [Read more...]
After wildfires caused power outages in California, the tinder box state is considering more microgrids in a proceeding before state regulators. “Wildfires are now to California what Sandy was to New York,” said Rick Bolton, CEO of Compass Energy Platform, referencing the 2012 superstorm that spurred a government push for microgrids after … [Read more...]
Developers and technology companies worldwide continue to focus on electrifying energy-poor areas of Africa. Recent example: 40,000 residents and businesses in the northeast African country of Eritrea now have reliable electricity thanks to two new minigrids. Developed by UK-based Solarcentury, the minigrids (Africa's term for microgrids) … [Read more...]
If energy storage advocates have their way, storage will receive the same US tax benefits as does solar — an investment tax credit for new installations. Legislation to do just that was introduced in the House of Representatives late last week. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., would create a separate energy storage infrastructure investment tax … [Read more...]
Moving the microgrid market is an ambitious goal that will require policy changes, technology advances and a customer-centric approach, say several microgrid industry leaders recently interviewed by Microgrid Knowledge. Overall, this challenging effort delivers big benefits, they say. “It’s an exciting time to be in this industry,” says … [Read more...]
When most people think of energy efficiency, they think of using fewer electrons. But the Clean Energy Group has an expanded definition — to shift energy usage from high peaks to low demand times. And it says that battery storage is the important new technology to allow this. The Clean Energy Group, supported by the Barr Foundation and the … [Read more...]
Can renewables cost less than fossil fuel generation? And are they as reliable? It appears so, especially when they are coupled with a suite of distributed energy resources (DERs), such as virtual power plants and demand response. New reports by Energy Innovation Policy and Technology and the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) lay out the … [Read more...]
Texas was among those states in the 1990s to restructure its retail electricity market, which gave business and residential consumers the option to choose a power supplier. Today, that type of innovation is expanding to give those users more dynamic options — the ability to generate their own electricity with distributed energy. The Texas … [Read more...]
Over the last seven years, the utility-scale storage market has gotten revved up. That’s because the technology risks and the cost associated with those devices have fallen dramatically, all compounded by an increasing number of developers that are participating in the market. The end result is that solar-plus-storage is competing head on … [Read more...]
The relevance of microgrids to the modern power system has become so significant that fewer and fewer players can afford to ignore them. And given performance expectations and the complexity of build, the demand for detailed microgrid simulation and testing facilities is high.
The new energy industry is working to categorize the various types of microgrids and business models. The primary goal is to minimize microgrid system cost and funding. To learn more about microgrid business modes and value chains download this white paper.
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