California-based Concentric Power has launched a $100 million program to finance cogeneration and microgrid projects, primarily for commercial and industrial companies. With roots in the U.S. food and agricultural industries, the company plans to leverage the new finance program to dive deeper into its core sector as well as expand into … [Read more...]
Wind-powered Community Microgrids Heat “Boxes of Bricks” in Alaska Homes
December 11, 2017 By
Wind-powered community microgrids are providing both electricity and heat to four small rural communities in Alaska, cutting residents’ fuel bills and reducing dependence on diesel fuel. What makes the project viable is its focus on community needs beyond just electricity, said Dennis Meiners, principal of Anchorage-based Intelligent Energy … [Read more...]
Quick News: FuelCell Energy & Trinity College, Grid Mod, Siemens & Smart Grid, Hybrid Gensets
May 23, 2017 By
FuelCell Energy gets Trinity College microgrid-ready FuelCell Energy has executed a power purchase agreement with Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, to install a 1.4 MW microgrid-ready fuel cell power plant. The college, which serves 2,200 students on a 100-acre campus, expects to save about 30 percent in annual energy costs through use … [Read more...]
Sustainable Microgrid Technologies for the Next Generation: University of Missouri
March 6, 2017 By
Sustainable microgrid technologies are helping the University of Missouri achieve its carbon reduction goals. We explain the evolution of the microgrid in this excerpt from Gas Turbine Microgrids: Reliability and Sustainability through Intelligence. The University of Missouri (Mizzou) has been able to reduce its coal consumption by 73 percent … [Read more...]
Hybrid Microgrid in Italy to Include Concentrating Solar Power
February 22, 2017 By
Development is underway on the Italian island of Sardinia of a 1.2 MW hybrid microgrid that incorporates concentrating solar power (CSP), a diversion from the more common use of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels in microgrids. CSP condenses the sun's rays into a small area, typically through use of mirrors or lenses, to produce heat and steam for … [Read more...]
Are Microgrids Utilities? Washington, D.C. is Asking
January 30, 2017 By
In a newly launched grid modernization initiative, the District of Columbia is wrangling with the question: Are microgrids utilities? The question arises as the district’s Public Service Commission begins exploring how the nation’s capital city can create a more sustainable and reliable electric grid. In a report issued last week (Docket … [Read more...]
Ormat to Expand into Energy Storage and Demand Response by Acquiring Viridity
January 3, 2017 By
Geothermal leader Ormat Technologies plans to diversify into energy storage and demand response with the $35 million acquisition of software and microgrid technology company Viridity Energy. The Nevada-based Ormat announced the deal today and hopes to close this year. Citing strong growth in energy storage, Ormat said the acquisition will … [Read more...]
Four Good Reasons for Community Microgrids
July 6, 2015 By
It is clear why city leaders are turning their attention to community microgrids. Energy is the lifeblood of any contemporary community, and severe storms in recent years have revealed the vulnerability of the central grid. The American electorate knows this and is concerned. In a March 2015 Gallup poll 88 percent of those surveyed described … [Read more...]
