As an early adopter of microgrids and distributed energy, Harvard University continues to lead the way in demonstrating energy security, reliability, sustainability and resilience for higher education. Harvard’s history of producing and distributing power, heat and water dates back a long way. Having been a district heating customer since the … [Read more...]
Stacking energy storage values -- capturing many value streams -- can lead to profitable projects, even at current storage costs, according to a new report from economists at The Brattle Group. The report, "Stacked Benefits: Comprehensively Valuing Battery Storage in California," focuses on California, but its conclusions apply generally to the … [Read more...]
DOE funds $20M for power electronics, a key part of a microgrid Now that utility-scale solar costs only 6 cents/kWh on average, U.S. energy policymakers will no longer focus as heavily on driving down prices. Instead, they are turning an eye toward using solar to improve grid reliability and resilience -- a key microgrid feature. As part of the … [Read more...]
Cuttyhunk witnessed New England’s whale oil industry give way to kerosene and incandescent light bulbs. Now the tiny island is deep in another energy revolution -- reducing diesel use by way of a solar plus storage microgrid. With a $2.1 million microgrid in operation since the early spring, the fishing mecca offers good argument for pursuing … [Read more...]
The Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve – which touts an 18,000 square-foot environmental center in Wisconsin – will also soon be home to a new advanced microgrid. Schneider Electric will partner with Faith Technologies to build and support the fully islandable microgrid, which will provide power to the non-profit nature preserve’s environmental … [Read more...]
Smart EV charging in California's Sonoma County can help reduce peak demand and aid in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, says a new report,“Beyond Combustion: Electric Vehicle Trends, Goals and Recommendations for Sonoma County.” “Large numbers of EVs connected to the grid through smart charging technology offer a perfect place to … [Read more...]
While the devastation of Hurricane Harvey and the West’s wildfires are fresh in our minds, it’s critical to start focusing on grid resiliency -- and how distributed energy can contribute to it. Utilities and state regulators right now focus more on grid reliability than grid resiliency, said Kelly Speakes-Backman, CEO of the Energy Storage … [Read more...]
Behind-the-meter energy storage hit record highs in the United States for the second quarter, according to numbers published today by GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association. During the second quarter, 443 residential and commercial energy systems were deployed, representing 32 MWh of capacity. Looking at the big picture, the Q3 2017 … [Read more...]
Kay Aikin of Introspective Systems describes the value of market-based microgrid control systems, as applied to an innovative project under development in Maine. The largest machine on earth is often said to be our electrical grid. By the end of 2016 there were some 7,600 power plants greater than 1 MW and many smaller resources, as well as a … [Read more...]
Duke Energy Florida has plans to re-make its grid into a two-way grid that incorporates renewable energy, storage, electric vehicle charging stations and smart meters and boosts resiliency. The plan is a blueprint for re-making a dated grid into a more fashionable system that’s bidirectional, flexible, protects itself against power outages … [Read more...]
Anthony Colonesse, vice president of Ameresco’s Energy Security Group, describes the evolution of Ameresco’s microgrid business strategy — from energy efficiency to today’s battery storage advances.
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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