Gosnold Town Hall; Credit: John Phelan
Massachusetts island-town issues microgrid solicitation
The Massachusetts town of Gosnold, which encompasses the Elizabeth Islands near Cape Cod, has issued a microgrid solicitation that seeks a microgrid controller, battery bank, and power electronics.
The request for proposals calls for supply, delivery, installation, commissioning of the equipment to support the town’s solar/diesel microgrid.
More details about the RFP, which was posted July 22, are here.
A microgrid for Berks County industrial park?
The Berks County Industrial Development Authority (BCIDA) is considering building a microgrid to power a proposed 760,200 square-foot business park in Berks County, Pennsylvania, according to LVB.com.
In order to attract the manufacturers and refrigerated warehouses developers hope for, the site will need more than the 3 MW of power available from the main grid.
Planned improvements to the site’s infrastructure to expand electrical power capacity may only provide a short-term solution, said Thomas McKeon, executive director of the BCIDA. “We’re going to need to have that in place to get us started, and then we would like to have more power. The microgrid may be the way to do that.”
Microgrids are increasingly popping up at industrial parks, colleges and communities to supplement or replace energy supplied by the main grid.
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A consortium of development and local industrial companies has raised $55,000 so far to cover the estimated $100,000 cost of a feasibility study of a microgrid for the business park, according to McKeon.
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Microgrid considered at Pennsylvania landfill
Pennsylvania Rep. Duane Milne (R-Chester) is reporting that a microgrid is in planning for the closed Knickerbocker Sanitary Landfill in Chester County near Routes 29 and 202.
The 6-7 MW solar microgrid could be operating by the second quarter of 2017.
The project is the brainchild of Microgrid Energy Partners of Great Valley and Managing Partner of Coatesville Solar Initiative (CSI).
“The benefits of a solar farm is that it produces renewable energy,” Milne said. “It will also be beneficial in the event of a dangerous storm that knocks out power lines. With the microgrid in place, power, reserved in batteries, will be available for local use. That microgrid will be available around the clock on every day.”
Ed Simpson, development partner in the project, says that solar and microgrids are a solution to our energy needs not only locally but also globally. “Projects like this will benefit my grandchildren for generations to come.”
The microgrid will be connected to the central grid with the ability to island. The partners are currently seeking business hosts to buy the power.
Cara Goman, Microgrid Knowledge associate editor, contributed to this report.
