Grid

SDGE Plans to Release an RFP Seeking a Microgrid Controller

Nov. 28, 2018

San Diego Gas & Electric (SDGE) plans to release a request for proposals (RFP) next month seeking a microgrid controller to help it manage energy storage and renewable energy.

Elisa Wood

San Diego Gas & Electric (SDGE) plans to release a request for proposals (RFP) next month seeking a microgrid controller to help it manage energy storage and renewable energy.

The California utility issued a notice Tuesday signaling the upcoming RFP, scheduled for release Wednesday, December 21.

The utility seeks microgrid technology to optimize distributed energy resources (DER) with conventional grid control assets. The controller will be applied to a section of SDGE’s system that spans from a distribution substation 12-kV bus to the end of one or more distribution circuits connected to that bus.

The solution must coordinate controls between devices to better manage reverse power flows and voltage and frequency excursions caused by DERs — and it should be able do so when the system is grid connected or in island mode (including managing low inertia environments).

The notice also said that the microgrid controller must integrate well with the company’s existing and future supervisory control and data acquisition, distribution management system, and distributed energy resource management system.

SDGE described the project schedule as extremely accelerated. Responses are due by February 1, 2019 and the utility plans to award a contract by March 1 with an effective start date of May 1.

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A number of bidders will be invited to participate, including PXiSE, a subsidiary and affiliate of SDGE parent Sempra Energy. PXiSE provides advanced control technology. Because of PXiSE’s participation, an independent evaluator will oversee the RFP process and assist in the proposal evaluations.

The RFP contact is Rachel Josué, category management advisor – IT supply management, authorized agent for Sempra Energy, SDGE and Southern California Gas, [email protected].

The utility will post the RFP documents on the PowerAdvocate site.

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About the Author

Elisa Wood | Editor-in-Chief

Elisa Wood is an award-winning writer and editor who specializes in the energy industry. She is chief editor and co-founder of Microgrid Knowledge and serves as co-host of the publication’s popular conference series. She also co-founded RealEnergyWriters.com, where she continues to lead a team of energy writers who produce content for energy companies and advocacy organizations.

She has been writing about energy for more than two decades and is published widely. Her work can be found in prominent energy business journals as well as mainstream publications. She has been quoted by NPR, the Wall Street Journal and other notable media outlets.

“For an especially readable voice in the industry, the most consistent interpreter across these years has been the energy journalist Elisa Wood, whose Microgrid Knowledge (and conference) has aggregated more stories better than any other feed of its time,” wrote Malcolm McCullough, in the book, Downtime on the Microgrid, published by MIT Press in 2020.

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