In times of uncertainty, microgrids can give customers control, according to Kurt West, vice president of business development at 2G Energy. West sat down with Elisa Wood, editor-in-chief of Microgrid Knowledge, at Microgrid 2022 to discuss how global trends are impacting the microgrid market.
When deploying microgrids for customers, West says there are only three energy considerations you can solve for — cost, resilience and carbon. “Microgrids advance each one of those in a way that brings certainty” to things otherwise outside of the customer’s control.
West says that he believes customers are beginning to value resilience. “Whether it’s an outage or a surge in energy costs, the value of resilience is always felt after you needed it. And so I think people are starting to put that into their thinking.” The result, from West’s point of view, is a lot more interest in microgrids.
He sees customers looking to future proof their operations with fuel flexible solutions. With the rising cost of fossil fuels, West says customers are looking for “a hedge against that long term fuel burden.” One major consideration is the switch from natural gas to hydrogen.
West also notes that because of inflation, supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine, he is seeing some hesitation from companies when it comes to investing in microgrid technology. But, he adds, we’re just eight years away from the 2030 carbon goal posts. West says that “if companies and governments are committed to their 2030 goals, we’re going to need to see a lot more action” in the microgrid space.
Learn more about how the microgrid market is changing by viewing Microgrid 2022: Microgrids as Climate Heroes. Videos of each session will be available for free as part of the Microgrid Knowledge video library.
