Chicago's Bronzeville microgrid project is demonstrating the social justice benefits of decentralized energy with the completion this month of solar installations on 660 residential units in the Dearborn Homes Community. The project, a partnership of Exelon subsidiary Commonwealth Edison (ComEd), developer VLV Development Solutions and the … [Read more...]
The Texas Public Utility Commission is expected to address a lingering question this summer: Are utilities permitted to own battery storage to provide reliability solutions — if the competitive market there is unable to do so? The microgrid industry sits on both sides of the issue. One group is saying that utilities won’t develop microgrids … [Read more...]
Chris Evanich, manager of microgrids at S&C Electric, explains why natural gas is top of mind for many in today's microgrid industry. Globally, we are seeing a push to lower our carbon emissions. From electric cars to rooftop solar, there are more and more ways everyone can help contribute to this goal. While many individuals have … [Read more...]
The irony could not be any more conspicuous: the vintage Trans World Airline, known as TWA, ceased to exist nearly two decades ago. But a new hotel and conference center has formed around what had been the TWA terminal at New York’s JFK Airport — one that focuses on ultra modern energy technologies: a microgrid, on site electric generation and … [Read more...]
Schneider Electric’s Andy Haun explores the role microgrid infrastructure will have in the electrification of transportation. Not all that long ago, most people laughed at the idea that cars could run entirely on an electric charge, not to mention cars that could drive themselves. While it hasn’t happened overnight, there is no doubt the … [Read more...]
As California’s wildfire season approaches, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) faces regulatory delays of up to two years for 100 MW of proposed storage-backed microgrids that aim to provide resiliency, especially to protect essential community services. “As a utility company, our mandate and charge is to provide safe and reliable … [Read more...]
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Rep. Tina Smith (D-Minn) introduced energy storage legislation this week that calls for a $300 million initiative to build five advanced, grid-scale systems across the country. Under the Better Energy Storage Technology Act (BEST), the Department of Energy would invest $60 million a year from 2020 through … [Read more...]
Eversource plans to develop an energy storage microgrid in New Hampshire that takes the local energy concept to a new level by pairing the microgrid with a bring-your-own-device program. The project also offers an example of a path for utilities to develop microgrids when state rules allow utility ownership of energy storage. Charlotte … [Read more...]
Siemens Digital Grid's Clark Wiedetz walks readers through through the question of whether to operate your microgrid using advanced microgrid controls that are centralized or simpler decentralized controls. I recently attended the fourth annual Microgrid Conference in San Diego, hosted by Microgrid Knowledge. With more than 400 attendees, … [Read more...]
This is the latest in a series of articles on ideas that emerged from Microgrid 2019, held in San Diego May 14-16. Here we focus on a discussion about energy storage from the panel "Beyond Islanding: The Well-Connected Microgrid." Microgrids increasingly depend on solar-plus-storage — or the ability to generate solar power on site and to … [Read more...]
Diesel generation is effective, but it’s not the best option available to pair with wind and solar. That’s where natural gas comes in. When designing a microgrid, don’t forget to look to natural gas as a feasible option to lower generation costs and provide greater resiliency to the system.
An advanced microgrid offers both power supply and energy savings and derives value from each. And that’s just the start of the complex stream of economic benefits that can emanate from a microgrid; others include electric reliability, resiliency, energy security, emissions reductions and energy bill savings. This paper provides an overview of microgrid financing and how the microgrid controller can help your microgrid reach maximum return on investment.
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