The National Defense Authorization Act, which is moving through the US House of Representatives, allocates $4.7 million to set up a military microgrid at a military-civil airport in Ohio.
The House Armed Services Committee approved the $768 billion bill for fiscal year 2022 on Sept. 2, sending it to the House floor for a vote.
Tucked in the bill is a base wide microgrid project for the Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport near Springfield, Ohio, according to US Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio.
There could be other microgrid projects in the legislation, but the complete bill language hasn’t been released yet.
The project was included in President Joe Biden’s budget request for fiscal year 2022.
The microgrid includes a 1-MW/1-MWh battery energy storage system, an 835-KW natural gas generator and a 600-KW photovoltaic (PV) system to provide a base wide electrical loop with microgrid controls to provide resilient power for essential missions, according to a summary of the budget proposal.
The project will provide energy resilience to unmanned aircraft operations and intelligence missions, as well as providing base wide resilient power to support facilities that include critical communications for these missions, the summary said.
If commercial power is lost during the day, the PV system can take control while still charging the battery storage, according to the summary. If commercial power is lost at night, the generator can be used. In times of minimal daylight, the battery and generators can be used in tandem, extending uninterrupted power over a longer period and providing mission assurance during commercial power outages.
Other microgrid projects included in Biden’s budget request are:
- A $19.5 million, 10-MW microgrid at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
- A $17.6 million, 4.8-MW microgrid at Fort Benning in Georgia.
- A $24 million, 10-MW microgrid at Fort Rucker in Alabama.
- A $22 million, 10-MW microgrid at Fort Stewart in Georgia.
- A $15 million, 1.25-MW microgrid at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait.
- A $9.1 million, 1.5-MW/6-MWh battery storage system to support an existing microgrid at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in California.
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