Tag Archive for: microgrid

DOE closed a $72.8M loan to fund a solar-plus-long-duration energy storage microgrid, under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda.

DOE announces $72.8M loan for solar-plus-storage microgrid on tribal lands

As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), through its Loan Programs Office (LPO), today announced the closing of a $72.8 million loan guarantee to finance the development of a solar-plus-long-duration-energy-storage microgrid. The microgrid will be located on the Tribal lands of the Viejas (Baron Long) Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians of the Viejas Reservation near Alpine, California. This project—supported by a grant from the California Energy Commission, investments from U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance, a subsidiary of U.S. Bank, and Starbucks—will provide the Viejas Band with reliable utility-scale renewable energy generation and storage infrastructure through the installation of a 15 MW photovoltaic solar generation system and a 70 MWh battery long-duration energy storage system. Today’s announcement underscores President Biden and Vice President Harris’ deep commitment to working with Tribal Nations and communities to build an inclusive, equitable, and resilient clean energy future.

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Source: Energy.gov

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PG&E announced the launch of its Microgrid Incentive Program and handbook, providing funding, expertise and guidance for building community, local and tribal government-proposed multi-customer microgrids.

PG&E announces new $200 million microgrid grant program

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced the launch of its Microgrid Incentive Program (MIP) and handbook, providing funding, expertise and guidance for building community, local and tribal government-proposed multi-customer microgrids.

The MIP is a new, statewide $200 million competitive grant program that will fund clean-energy community microgrids in disadvantaged and vulnerable communities.

A community microgrid’s distributed energy resources can also participate in the statewide wholesale market for energy and related services — creating a potential source of earnings for the asset owner and providing an additional buffer for the California grid.

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Source: Solar Power World

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Redflow Limited will be the battery provider for a 34.4 MWh long-duration energy storage & solar microgrid to power a hospital in California.

Microgrid with long-duration energy storage to help power CA children’s hospital

Redflow Limited will be the battery provider for a 34.4 MWh long-duration energy storage and solar microgrid to power a hospital in California.

Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera, California aims to replace diesel generators with cleaner sources yet ensure uninterrupted power supply.

Australia-based Redflow will collaborate with Faraday Microgrids on the project, named the Children’s Hospital Resilient Grid with Energy Storage (CHARGES).

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Source: Power Engineering

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Microgrid communities are energy-resilient communities that can operate independently from a larger municipal electrical system when necessary.

What if your town doubled as a residential power grid?

For all of California’s many charms, living here isn’t always easy.

There’s the astronomical cost of housing, of course, and the seemingly constant threat of catastrophe, whether from earthquakes, fires or extreme heat. Especially as the effects of climate change increase, disaster often seems to be lurking right around the corner.

This newsletter recently covered the increasing popularity in California of “disaster-proof” homes, built to better withstand high winds and temperatures, and to limit entry points for wildfire embers. And last year, my colleague Ivan Penn wrote about Californians who, out of frustration with blackouts and rising utility prices in our warming world, are opting to live off the grid.

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Source: The New York Times

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Recent studies have proposed using solar-plus-storage microgrids to minimize public safety concerns from PSPS during the wildfire season.

Solar-plus-storage microgrids minimize power shutoffs during wildfires

Recent studies have proposed using solar-plus-storage microgrids to minimize public safety concerns from power shutoffs (PSPS) during the wildfire season for communities located in wildland-urban interfaces, such as California and much of the US west coast.

A comprehensive assessment of microgrids had not been performed to evaluate the potential to enhance resilience for up to 46 million Americans living next to forests, or a wildland-urban interface, where wildfire risk is acute.

To address this research gap, a study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory looked at a novel modeling framework and assessed the potential of solar and batteries for districts where power can be turned off based on wildfire warnings.

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Source: PV Magazine

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The Advanced Power and Energy Program at the University of California, Irvine, joined the US DOE, KB Home, SunPower, Southern California Edison and Schneider Electric to officially open the novel microgrid communities in the Shadow Mountain master plan in Menifee, CA.

University of California, Irvine, opens research microgrid in Shadow Mountain community

The Advanced Power and Energy Program at the University of California, Irvine, joined the U.S. Department of Energy, KB Home, SunPower, Southern California Edison and Schneider Electric on May 22 to officially open the novel microgrid communities located in the Shadow Mountain master plan in Menifee, California.

A microgrid is a self-supporting energy system that serves a specific geographic footprint, with one or more sources of energy that power the community along with the utility grid. For this research and demonstration project, the all-electric homes are located in two adjacent communities and equipped with solar panels, home batteries, a smart water heater, a smart heating and air conditioning system and controls that can isolate and energize the homes in the event of a grid outage. Every home is certified to DOE-designated Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) standards, which includes ENERGY STAR, WaterSense and Indoor airPLUS.

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Source: Solar Power World

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Taylor Farms is installing a microgrid at its largest facility in an effort to end the plant’s reliance on California’s strained power grid.

California blackout risk prompts produce plant to build its own grid

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California’s repeated brushes with blackouts proved too much for Taylor Farms.

The produce supplier, based in the farm country John Steinbeck made famous, can’t afford to lose refrigeration at its facilities where lettuce and vegetables are trimmed, mixed into salads and packaged for sale.  So working with Bloom Energy Corp., Taylor Farms is installing a microgrid at its 450,000 square-foot facility near San Juan Bautista — its largest — powered by fuel cells, solar panels and batteries in an effort to end the plant’s reliance on California’s strained power grid.

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Source: Bloomberg

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Sunnova Energy is seeking permission from state regulators to develop microgrids for new housing developments that don't rely on established electric utilities.

A solar firm plans to build off-grid neighborhoods in California

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For more than a century, governments have offered electric utilities a monopoly on selling power to homes and businesses so long as they agreed to serve everybody and subject themselves to regulation.

But as homeowners have begun installing solar panels and batteries, that simple arrangement has become more complicated. That has led to fierce battles between utility companies and relatively young solar businesses that sell and install rooftop systems for use by homes and businesses.

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Source: NY Times

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Bimbo Bakeries has contracted with GreenStruxure to design and construct solar-powered microgrids at six California bakeries.

Bimbo Bakeries bakes up solar microgrids in California

Despite their role in promoting sustainable development in the built environment, microgrids have traditionally been powered by fossil fuels — primarily natural gas. However, improved microgrid technology, along with a steady trend in cost reductions, are inspiring an increased adaptation of renewable energy sources for microgrids.

Today’s microgrids incorporate a more diverse assortment of largely clean and renewable energy, often combining a mix-and-match of rooftop solar panels, wind turbines, fuel cells and biomass-power heat with storage to provide maximum uptime for mission critical operations, according to a 2021 report by Guidehouse Insights.

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Source: GreenBiz

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The microgrid system will launch in September in Silver Spring, powering electric buses on Montgomery County’s Ride On system

Electric buses to tap solar power using new method for D.C. region

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The first microgrid to power electric buses will soon make its debut in the Washington region as transit agencies nationwide increasingly look to the sun — rather than diesel — to fuel their fleets.

The system will launch in September, powering a growing number of electric buses on Montgomery County’s Ride On transit system. The Silver Spring facility will be the first in the D.C. area to use the microgrid technology and one of the earliest of its kind nationwide.

The microgrid will use energy that originates from solar panels at a bus depot rather than the traditional electricity grid — the process used by most transit agencies with electric buses. The transition comes as jurisdictions across the country are looking to electrify their bus fleets to battle climate change and amid financial windfalls from last year’s infrastructure law, which includes $109 billion for transit.

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Source: Washington Post

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