Renewvia has completed two Kenya microgrids on islands in Lake Victoria and expects to bring a third online soon as part of its larger strategy to light up rural Africa. The Atlanta, Georgia company is positioning to develop 43 solar-storage systems in Kenya and neighboring Uganda and Nigeria, CEO Trey Jarrard told Microgrid … [Read more...]
The switch over to distributed and renewable energy systems is about more than just cutting loose from fossil fuels and embracing new energy sources. The clean energy change-over is demanding new models for electricity generation, and inverting relationships between producers, consumers and infrastructure operators. The monolithic … [Read more...]
Today, the majority of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) rely on imported diesel fuel to generate electricity on the islands.1 This reliance on diesel exposes SIDS to multiple challenges. First, the fuel must typically be transported great distances at great expense and the resulting electricity tariffs can be staggeringly high. In 2010, for … [Read more...]
Overview In 1978, Sir Richard Branson purchased Necker Island, a beautiful getaway in the British Virgin Islands. What began with a dream of creating an environment where people could talk and relax soon became an unparalleled luxury retreat. Now, Branson has a new dream: to transform Necker Island into one of the most energy efficient islands … [Read more...]
A microgrid case study: The Annobon Island Microgrid, a reliable and cost-effective island microgrid. Annobon Province, an island off Equatorial Guinea in west central Africa, has a population of approximately 5,000 residents. The residents only have reliable electricity for up to five hours per day and spend an average of 15-20 percent of their … [Read more...]
Kaitlyn Bunker of Rocky Mountain Institute details how Bonaire used renewables and energy storage to replace diesel generators. Bonaire (pop. 14,500), a small island off the coast of Venezuela, is famous for its beautiful marine reefs, which are visited by 70,000 tourists every year. What many of the tourists don’t realize is that the majority … [Read more...]
Tyeler Matsuo and Julia Meisel, of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), explore climate auctions. This 21st century alternative to grants and loans uses competitive bidding to disperse public funding to carbon-reducing projects.
A microgrid is a discrete energy system consisting of distributed energy sources (e.g. renewables, conventional, storage) and loads capable of operating in parallel with, or independently from, the main grid. The primary purpose is to ensure reliable, affordable energy security for commercial, industrial and federal government consumers. Benefits that extend to utilities and the community at large include lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and lower stress on the transmission and distribution system.
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