Microgrids in the New Energy World
Microgrids are not new. Hospitals, universities, government buildings and mil-
itary bases have relied on backup generators and central heat and power (CHP)
systems for years. But the emergence of renewable energy, especially solar PV, and
a heightened need for more reliable and resilient electricity supply has in the last
few years catapulted microgrids into the limelight.
Justin Rathke, president of Vergent Power Solutions and moderator of
the Wednesday afternoon session titled “Distributed Energy in Microgrids –
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How Onsite Power Systems can be Integrated for Enhanced Resiliency,”
said he counted at least five POWER-GEN International sessions that were
related to microgrids – a topic that has seen little coverage at the event up
until now.
Anne Hampson of ICF, one of four speakers in the session, has done ex-
tensive research on microgrids and distributed energy resources. She ex-
plained the traits of a microgrid, which include: Distributed energy re-
sources with the ability to island (disconnect completely) from the grid; Op-
erations maintained through an active management system; Self-sustaining
electricity source during grid/utility outage.
Traditional microgrids were built to benefit the owner, but others can
benefit from microgrids too, Hampson said. Microgrids provide end users
with resilient operations and reduced energy costs. They can allow utilities
to defer their transmission and distribution investments and offer ancillary
services. Additionally, they also can be valuable to society, by offering in-
creased grid reliability and emissions reduction, she said.
“Natural gas CHP is an ideal anchor for microgrids,” Hampson said. “It
compliments intermittent renewable energy.” CHP leads all technologies in
microgrid deployments by capacity. Currently, more than 4,400 installa-
tions, with locations in every state, make up 82 GW of CHP capacity in the
U.S. In addition, 1,100 MW of microgrid capacity is installed in the U.S.
and 50 percent of that capacity includes CHP, she said.
Many things began to change after the September 11, 2001 terrorist at-
tacks, including the idea that the U.S. electric power grid needed to be more
secure. It was after Hurricane Katrina and superstorm Sandy that grid resili-
ency began to become a top priority. The need for a secure and resilient
electricity supply has been a big driver of microgrid development, John Car-
roll, vice president of business development at Intelligent Power & Energy
Research Corp., told the audience during his presentation.
“Economic optimization is a primary consideration,” he said, “but, the
3Rs–reliability, resiliency and redundancy – are critical.”
As DER integration into the grid causes uncertainty and increases grid
operation complexity, microgrids can help grids adapt and become more
flexible, Carroll said.
He also said as more generation sources and loads are added to mi-
crogrids, microgrid controllers become more and more important.
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In addition, he talked about the major trends in the “new energy world.”
Decarbonization, digitization and decentralization are and will continue to
be key drivers, he said.
Microgrids will be a big part of the energy future because they provide
reliable energy, increase grid efficiency and optimization and are a source of
“green” energy, Gravitt said.
Original written by Teresa Hansen. Materials provided:
http://www.power-eng.com/articles/2016/12/microgrids-in-the-new-energy-world.html
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