Rural electric coops cover 60% of the US land mass, control 42% of distribution lines, and serve about 42 million customers. They do what other utilities do, but they are tax exempt, consumer-owned organizations set up by an Act of Congress in 1936. NRECA already has a good head start on the DoD work through its Open Modeling Framework project, which aims at enabling …
Researchers Propose Floating Microgrids and Virtual Power Plants Made up of Electric Boats
September 6, 2019 By Lisa Cohn, Microgrid Knowledge.com Electric boats may enable floating microgrids that could serve islands that have historically been powered by fossil fuels, according to a report from researchers at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. By Igor Karasi/Shutterstock.com “Powering small islands with reliable, affordable and green electricity is a big challenge due to their dispersed …
Massachusetts Close to Finalizing a Clean Peak Standard. Good News for Microgrids
August 15, 2019 By Peter Maloney1, In Microgrid Knowledge. Massachusetts is close to implementing a clean peak standard that could bring wider opportunities for microgrid developers. It would also make Massachusetts the first state in the nation to implement the standard. By Love Silhouette/Shutterstock.com Based on the premise that renewable energy is good for the environment, but even better if used at the right time, …
Alaska, Model of Microgrid Development, Delivers Resiliency in Cold, Remote Conditions. Largest battery and microgrid in the country (2003) has prevented 784 outages since it was first installed.
July 16, 2019 By Lisa Cohn, Microgrid Knowledge, Alaska, Model of Microgrid Development, Delivers Resiliency in Cold, Remote Conditions Alaska’s challenges — cold weather and the high cost of delivered energy — are part of the reason the state is a model of innovative microgrid development, with the largest number of microgrids in the US, at 122. “This innovation flows from both the …
Schneider Electric Signs Agreement to Spur Minigrid Electrification in Nigeria
July 3, 2019 By Andrew BurgerLeave a Comment Schneider Electric recently signed an agreement with EM-ONE Energy Solutions, an engineering firm in Nigeria, with the aim of creating an industry ecosystem based on renewable energy-centered minigrids built or operated by community stakeholders. Local fruit market in Ondo, Nigeria. Photo by Jordi C/Shutterstock.com EM-ONE holds a contract to build 30 minigrids to power …
10,000 aggregated distributed energy assets take advantage of a software platform that connects them and helps decide when to charge and when to discharge
“To take advantage of when to charge and when to discharge — and bid into the wholesale market — you need a software platform to connect all of the batteries together,” Sternberg said. The software platform monitors battery telemetry — the current state of charge and the battery’s capacity to offer power to the grid or take from the grid. An …
Democratized Peer-To-Peer Microgrids: how people with small rooftop solar systems — called micro-generators — could create a peer-to-peer energy market
From Steve Hanley on Clean Technica, May 6 2019 UK Research and Innovation has begun a study to determine how people with small rooftop solar systems — called micro-generators — could create a peer-to-peer energy market. The research is funded by UKRI’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Entitled the Household-Supplier Energy Market Project, the focus is on creating a democratized …
Interconnect Microgrids for Greatest Benefit. Also, What Electrification of Transportation and Buildings Means to Microgrids: Interview
Energy-as-a-service or microgrid-as-a-service, the approach allows customers to secure the benefits of microgrids — reliable local power, cost management and clean energy — without taking on the risk. Typically, the host pays only a fee for electric service while a third party develops, builds and operates the microgrid. “Energy as a service is the story of energy smartly procured, locally produced, …
Reverse Auctions May Become the Key to Energy Storage Rollout, EDF says. US may need 10K GWh of energy storage – enough to run the entire grid for 10 hours at full capacity
April 25, 2019 By Ken Silverstein, Microgrid Knowledge, Energy Storage Reverse Auctions EDF says that two-thirds renewables electricity mix in the United States may require as much as 10,000 GWh of energy storage – enough to run the entire grid for 10 hours at full capacity. When Xcel Energy conducted a reverse auction in 2018 to help build out its energy storage …
State Energy Commission, Resilience, Pollution and Cost Leading to More Microgrids in California
Utilities tend to rely on diesel-fed mobile generators for emergency service. But CCAs are demonstrating that “low- or no-carbon alternatives to mobile generation sources, such as microgrids and associated storage, are just as reliable, feasible, and cost-effective in many circumstances, and also provide a long-term solution,” said a joint filing by solar energy company Sunrun and Peninsula Clean Energy Authority …