Rapid Microgrid Deployments for Emergency Preparedness: Powering Field Hospitals for COVID-19 and Beyond

Bloom Energy is working quickly to launch microgrid deployments and solutions to power existing and temporary hospitals while they care for COVID-19 patients. 

Makeshift medical facilities known as field hospitals are popping up one by one across the nation, giving purpose to now-vacant convention centers, parks, arenas, and sometimes even empty parking lots. 

As the coronavirus outbreak continues to overwhelm the country’s existing healthcare system, the need for additional hospital capacity – specifically, more beds – is palpable. 

Standing up these temporary field hospitals reduces the strain on existing facilities and enables the treatment of more patients in the scenario that the ‘curve’ isn’t flattened quickly enough. And unfortunately, this is a reality we must be prepared for. 

According to Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) data (updated on April 17th), the U.S. may need upwards of 211,000 beds around the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak, which could create a shortage of more than 152,000 beds. 

These projections, while unsettling, only further affirm the urgent role temporary field hospitals, and microgrids,  play in effectively addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.