News
New Tesla Gigafactory Permits Reveal Plan to Build a Microgrid Lab
Tesla's Model 3 EV sdan is due to launch tomorrow, but solar PV energy storage and renewable/hybrid microgrids also loom large in Tesla's strategic plans as it continues to play a central, driving role in the evolution of a new digital, distirbuted "green" energy economy.
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BTL Blockchain Energy Transaction Processing Platform Advances to “Go-To Production” Phase
Following successful pilot testing with BP, Eni and Wien Enerige, Vancouver's BTL Group is inviting energy companies to participate in development and launch of a planned six month-long blockchain-based distributed energy transaction processing platform.
Read more →Microgrids without Subsidy? Check Out the C&I Market
Microgrids often need some form of policy support. This is especially so for microgrids that are deployed for a public purpose, such as community resilience. Because utility distribution microgrids face a higher regulatory standard, they also often incur a premium…
Read more →First Non-Recourse Project Financing for Utility “Behind the Meter” Battery Energy Storage
CIT has completed the first non-recourse project financing package for Macquarie Capital, which is working with Advanced Microgrid Solutions, to bring 50-MW of "behind the meter" battery storage capacity online to shore up Southern California Edison grid services in pockets of the West Los Angeles Basin.
Read more →D.light Raises Another $10.5MM as Kenya Launches $150MM Mobile Pay-Go Solar Plan
A mix of equity and grant funding, the capital infusion brings the total amount d.light has raised over the past four months to more than $40 million, highlighting growing investor confidence in mobile pay-go solar as an effective means of sustainable socioeconomic development..
Read more →Global Microgrid Markets To Reach $35 billion By 2022: New Report
Research & Markets suggest global microgrid markets will have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12% between 2016-2022. The Research and Markets timeline for microgrid growth is slightly slower than Global Microgrid Market report from Transparency Market Research, which…
Read more →Biggest Drivers Of US Electric Grid Transformation According to DOE
According to the 2nd Quadrennial Energy Review , here the key trends shaping the electricity sector today. It also reads as a list of opportunities for microgrids. Increasing Importance of “Internet of Things” (IoT) and Digitization. IoT is “sensors and…
Read more →Liberating Microgrids: How Customers and Solutions Providers Can Grow DER Markets
The Failure Rate for Proposed Microgrid Projects is Too High. Why is This? By Sunil Cherian and Peter Asmus Too often, these networks of distributed energy resources (DER) are viewed as sophisticated infrastructure projects, requiring expensive upfront analysis followed by…
Read more →World's First Open Microgrid Lets Commercial Zones Co-Invest and Optimize Energy Resources
Two new pilot projects, dubbed 'E-Cloud' seek to develop and optimize open microgrids in Belgium's industrial zones. E-cloud is funded by the local Wallonia government. The "eco-zoning" will allow different companies in the same commercial park to invest together into…
Read more →Postcard From the Future? Ta'u Island Ditches Diesel With Tesla-SolarCity Microgrid
In 'Before The Flood,' Elon Musk tells Leonardo DiCaprio that just 100 Gigafactories would be enough to move the entire world to sustainable energy. While critics scoffed, Tesla and SolarCity were busy building the prototype. Just days after the Tesla-SolarCity…
Read more →Utility Grant Boosting Minnesota Microgrid Research
A recent grant from Xcel Energy is helping a Minnesota University in investigating the Gopher States future microgrid potential. According to MidWest Energy News , a $2.1 million grant was given to St. Paul and Minneapolis- based the University of…
Read more →South Shore Long Island Town Studying Community Microgrid Feasibility
Known as a haven for the rich and famous, the ¨South Shore¨ Long Island town of East Hampton is evaluating the feasibility of using a microgrid to enhance efficiency, reliability and resiliency of its power grid to extreme weather. More…
Read more →DOE Announces Grid Modernization R&D Projects, Partners, and Funding
The Department of Energy (DOE) announced it will fund up to $220 million of R&D projects to modernize America's aging power grid infrastructure over the next three years. Accompanying this, DOE released its ¨Grid Modernization Multi-Year Program Plan¨ (MYPP), a…
Read more →Sumitomo Group Commissions Large-Scale Battery Storage System in PJM
In addition to microgrid deployments, advanced battery energy storage systems are also increasingly being used by utilities and independent system operators (ISOs) responsible for managing state and regional power grids. The Sumitomo Group's Wiley Battery Utility LLC on January 13…
Read more →New CalCharge Leader Aims to Create Energy Storage Industry Hub
Founded in 2014 by the non-profit California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF), CalCharge is leveraging its growing roster of member companies and working relationships with three San Francisco Bay area national labs to create an energy storage R&D and industry hub…
Read more →Microgrids in Africa: Perspectives From WorldWatch Institute and Navigant Research
[wpsm_titlebox title="Why Microgrids Are Catching On In Africa" style="3"] This article was written by D.A. Barber for AFKInsider . It is being reposted with permission. [/wpsm_titlebox] With Africa’s push for rural electrification, microgrids — especially those that use renewable energy…
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Eugene Water & Electric Board Set to Test Solar-Storage Microgrids
Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) has launched a two-year, $1 million project that entails using solar panels, advanced battery and smart grid technology to test the capacity of microgrids to supply electrical power for critical infrastructure and public emergency/disaster…
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5 Unstoppable Drivers Of Microgrid Growth in 2016
You may not be surprised that we are bullish on microgrids, but we are unaware of an argument against significant microgrid growth in the coming years. By definition, microgrids are small and versatile, allowing them to quickly take advantage of…
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U.K.'s First C&I Automated Demand Response Program Launched by Honeywell, Pearlstone
The advent of automated demand response (ADR) technology is enabling owners of commercial and industrial (C&I) facilities to earn revenues and reduce their energy bills by helping distribution utilities enhance grid operations and management. Given the scale of distribution utility…
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Navigant Works with 12 Microgrid Project Sponsors to Define the Market, Develop Strategies
Rapidly declining costs and performance improvements, along with supportive energy and power market policy and regulatory changes, continues to fuel strong growth in distributed renewable energy investment and installations and, more recently, stationary battery storage systems. Bringing together and integrating…
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