Utilities
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 →New Secretary of Defense James Mattis Supports Solar Military Microgrids To 'Remove Tether of Fuel'
As Coalition Forces stormed Baghdad in 2003, the commanders knew they had a significant Achilles heel. They didn't know how long they had to defeat Saddam's regime before the difficulty of delivering fuel throughout the battlefield would catch up with…
Read more →Self-Driving Batteries, Virtual Microgrids, and Other Uber-like Future Energy Models
This new slideshare from Professor Damien Ernst describes microgrids, V2G (Vehicle To Grid), autonomous vehicle energy delivery, and other futuristic models for the electrical industry. With seemingly daily announcement from car and technology companies, these models are much closer than…
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 →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 →A Solar-Storage Microgrid for Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Small in size at 10-kW of solar power and 95-kWh of zinc-iron battery energy storage, the proposed project nonetheless highlights the leading role the National Park Service and other branches of the Federal government can and are playing in reducing greenhouse gas emissions reductions and ramping up use of local renewable energy resources.
Read more →New Community Microgrid Projects Crop Up in Seattle and Santa Monica
Community microgrids are cropping up in a growing number of states as government, civic and business leaders look to shore up energy security, grid reliability and resilience, contain cost increases and reduce environmental pollution.
Read more →How Can Microgrids and Utilities Become Best Buds?
The term microgrid used to give utility executives sleepless nights and indigestion. These small, self-reliant systems would pop up, seemingly like mushrooms, within a utility’s service territory, threatening both the utility’s resource plan and its obligation to serve reliable power.…
Read more →Bipartisan Microgrid Support Helps Push Energy Bill Forward
At 85-12, the senate has passed the first energy bill since 2007 with overwhelming bi-partisan support. It's a historic $37.5 billion energy and water bill that could shape the energy transition in the United States in a more directed, thoughtful…
Read more →How Distributed Microgrids Limit The Need For Spinning Reserves
The best way to ensure reliability on the electric grid is to assume everything will eventually fail, and be prepared with backup systems. Redundancy is essential for building resilient systems in both engineering and nature. It is one reason why…
Read more →Cheaper, Cleaner, Stronger: Pew Charitable Trust On Microgrids' Growing Role in Grid Evolution
Microgrids were a focal point at this year's ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit , which took place in Washington, D.C. February 29 – March 2. During the energy industry event, Pew Charitable Trust's Clean Energy Initiative presented new market research highlighting…
Read more →"It's Like The Early Days of the Internet," Blockchain-based Brooklyn Microgrid Tests P2P Energy Trading
[wpsm_quote author="Scott Clavenna - CEO of Greentech Media on Blockchain" float="left" width="30"]“When the internet was first introduced, it was hard to conceive of the drastic impact it would have on the world. We’ve got all the parts to do some…
Read more →Forging Win-Win Solutions in the Evolving DER Integration Landscape
By Peter Asmus The stars appear to have aligned for distributed energy resources (DER) to play an increasingly important role in providing energy services to consumers. Some see this growth in capacity from devices such as solar photovoltaic (PV) panels,…
Read more →KEPCO Installs World's Largest Frequency Regulation BESS
Advantageous performance characteristics, declining costs and power market regulatory reform are fueling deployment of utility-scale battery-based energy storage systems (BESS), particularly to provide so-called ancillary services. Of these, frequency regulation – synchronizing AC frequencies across generation assets – is the…
Read more →Southern Co. Ups Its Microgrid Capabilities with PowerSecure Acquisition
The latest in a string of strategic moves indicative of a strategic shift in direction, Southern Co.'s $431 million all-cash offer to acquire PowerSecure sent the latter's shares soaring.
Read more →SolarCity and Tesla Package First Solar-Storage PPA To Deliver Solar Energy On Demand in Kaua'i
SolarCity announced it had chosen sister company Tesla's Powerpack to provide 52MWh of energy storage for what's billed as the U.S.' first utility-scale solar PV-energy storage system being built on the Hawai'ian island of Kauai'i.
Read more →Florida, Nevada Pull the Plug on Solar Energy
Grass roots political ¨battles¨ continue to spark and ignite in U.S. states. Two recent developments, in Nevada and Florida, highlight the high state of flux of U.S. power markets and industry, while also revealing the ¨shenanigans¨ proponents get up to in promoting their causes.
Read more →ComEd Charts Course to Clean Energy Future with Chicago Solar Microgrid
Commonwealth Edison will use a $4 million grant from the new DOE SunShot Initiative SHINES (Sustainable and Holistic Integration of Energy Storage and Solar PV) program in building a solar-powered microgrid in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood, management announced January 20 .…
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Austin Readies Launch of 2 SHINES Solar-Storage Pilot Projects
Austin Energy's SHINES pilot projects are to pave the way toward a levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of $0.14/kWh for solar PV systems that employ advanced Li-ion battery-based storage to dispatch electrical power night and day.
Read more →Veridian Microgrid To Combine Tesla Powerwall, EV Charging, and Solar Using Opus One Software
Veridian Connections announced this week they are rolling out a “ virtual power plant ,” with a new microgrid system. The southern Ontario utility says the microgrid project will provide significant benefits to their customers. "This project serves as the…
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