Community microgrids:
Unique value proposition, unique challenge Microgrids that serve multiple customers across public rights of way and property boundaries are considered community microgrids, as distinguished from campus microgrids or building-scale nanogrids that serve a single property owner. These microgrids offer vast potential for helping local communities to achieve their goals for energy resiliency, environmental performance, renewable integration, and economic development. However they also present special challenges affecting virtually every aspect of microgrid project development: network design and configuration, technical options, system integration, regulation, contracting, financing, and ownership and operations. The Microgrid Institute Resilient Communities Initiative was formed to help community leaders and other stakeholders navigate the challenges of local resilience planning and project development. From strategic vision to contracting, our principals and partners are working to bring "lights-on" districts to communities across the country. If you serve as a community official or other stakeholder in a local resilience project, please contact us to learn more about our work and potential for collaboration. |
December 15, 2015: Public presentation at New Paltz Village Hall, reviewing design and operating concepts for a 4.5 MW solar+CHP microgrid. (Note: The content of this presentation reflects a midstream update on feasibility study progress, and is not final project documentation.) (325 kb PDF)
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RELATED INFORMATION
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PRESS RELEASE
WEBINAR: MODELING CLEAN RESILIENT POWER FOR MARYLAND COMMUNITIES Montgomery County, Md.: Microgrid Institute will host a free public webinar on Thurs., Feb. 5, 2015, at 2:00 EST, to provide information and address questions about the Olney Town Center microgrid R&D project. Register to attend this free webinar: Online: http://bit.ly/1utV2OO Phone: Peter Douglass (320) 493-1923 Email: pdouglass@microgridinstitute.org Background: The Olney Town Center microgrid R&D project team – which includes Microgrid Institute, Green Energy Corp., Schneider Electric, North Carolina State University, and Pepco Holdings Inc. – is working to research, design, simulate, and test advanced control systems for a prospective community microgrid at Olney in Montgomery County, approximately 20 miles from Washington, D.C. Additionally, the project will compare and contrast the Olney model against a second prospective microgrid deployment in Prince George’s County. During the webinar on February 5, the project team will provide an overview of the project with details about its objectives and approaches to microgrid technology development. ... READ MORE PRESS RELEASE
MICROGRID INSTITUTE LAUNCHES RESILIENT COMMUNITIES INITIATIVE June 6, 2014 Ft. Lauderdale: Microgrid Institute today launched the Resilient Communities Initiative, during the Go Solar Fest conference and exhibition at the Broward County Convention Center. “Communities across the country are working to improve their resilience, preparing for the next disruptive storm,” said Michael Burr, Director of Microgrid Institute. “But community resilience projects are multi-faceted and complex, impacting many interdependent systems and services. Achieving local resilience calls for specialized expertise and information that can be difficult to find.” The Microgrid Institute Resilient Communities Initiative will establish a single source of knowledge, expertise, and support to help communities in each phase of local resilience project planning and implementation. By bringing these resources into a one-stop shop for community leaders, the Resilient Communities Initiative will raise the chances for project success -- while reducing project costs. MORE STATE POLICY
Maryland Microgrids Roadmap Comments: Resiliency through Microgrids Task Force Maryland Energy Administration, April 3, 2014 "A singularly important role for policymakers in Maryland is to establish policy goals and regulatory frameworks that foster innovation in serving local energy requirements – not only with microgrids, but with a full range of demand-side services." MORE Working guide to project evaluation methodologies, criteria, and other resources (Updated February 2015).
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Utility 2.0 and the Dynamic Microgrid
Superstorm disruption calls for a new utility architecture By Mani Vadari, Modern Grid Solutions, and Gerry Stokes, Brookhaven National Laboratory With advanced distribution technologies, grid architecture is changing in fundamental ways. Distributed energy resources, combined with smart grid technologies, set the stage for dynamic microgrids to bring system resilience and efficiency. MORE | ||||||||
