Girls in Malawi, Africa now have a chance to get a good education thanks to a new microgrid. A solar array, capable of producing 6.6 kW during peak, will electrify the school campus, providing the lights and the energy to run computers, printers and TV screens. The “Sokola” school campus is in a mountainous area in Chitipa, Northern Malawi and it … [Read more...]
Connecticut has supercharged development of a 20-MW fuel cell microgrid — part of a $1 billion data center project in New Britain — with a 10-year, $55.2 million sales and use tax exemption. EIP Investments intends to build a microgrid spanning 45,000 square-feet on the site of a shuttered Stanley Black & Decker manufacturing plant in … [Read more...]
You know you’ve done something right when your new campus microgrid islands so seamlessly that you don’t even know it happened. That’s what occurred in February, in response to a communications glitch, at Montclair State University (MSU), the second largest university in New Jersey with 23,000 students. MSU's system includes a 5.4-MW … [Read more...]
While it may seem that microgrids are new, the history of microgrids shows they have been around in some form for years in the US — although they haven’t always been called microgrids. The first one was introduced by Thomas Edison in 1882 at his Pearl Street Station, which combined heat and power and produced electricity and thermal … [Read more...]
Four Nigerian universities will soon disconnect from the national grid with off-grid microgrids, as part of a national program to bring microgrids to dozens of universities. A subsidiary of Greece's Mytilineos, METKA Power West Africa is providing engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) for phase one of the four Energizing Education … [Read more...]
Georgia isn’t usually associated with bold clean energy moves, but this week state regulators decided to make some history. The Public Service Commission did so in a vote on Georgia Power’s integrated resource plan (IRP), a strategy that outlines what resources the utility plans to use over 20 years. (Dockets 42310 and 42311). Filed in … [Read more...]
Michael Bakas, executive vice president, Ameresco, describes the benefits of green campus microgrids. Such projects help campuses reach sustainability markers, as well as economic goals when they are financed through energy performance contracts. In addition, campus microgrids can serve as learning labs that give graduating students a leg up in the … [Read more...]
NEC Energy Solutions has completed a 500 kW/1000 kWh battery energy storage system installed at a microgrid in the Howard Elementary School in Eugene, Oregon. The project, part of Eugene Water & Electric Board's (EWEB) plan to improve resiliency by creating community points of water distribution around the city of Eugene for … [Read more...]
Emory University is seeking support from Georgia regulators for a microgrid that would be built on its Atlanta campus. The university is petitioning the Georgia Public Service Commission on the need to perform a feasibility study in collaboration with Georgia Power before seeking final approval for the project, according to Joan Kowal, … [Read more...]
Northeastern University says it is developing a microgrid that sets the bar for higher education, using a self-funded approach to harden its campus resiliency while achieving sustainability goals. Now in planning, the integrated microgrid will serve the university’s 73-acre campus in Boston, a city that experiences urban power congestion and … [Read more...]
Is it time to look beyond just emissions from power plants and vehicles and consider embedded carbon in steel, scrap metal, minerals and other building blocks?
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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