Clean Energy Leader Green Development LLC Explains U.S. Shift Towards Microgrids
Microgrids offer a wide variety of benefits for securing local infrastructures. As a result, they have captured the attention of policy-makers, businesses, and homeowners. Researchers project the microgrid market in North America will reach $61.18 billion by 2027, and the U.S. Department of Defense is projected to increase spending on microgrids to $1.4 billion by 2026. As a pioneer in the renewable energy movement, Green Development LLC explains why governments and communities are investing in this critical technology upgrade. Cowley Batemans Bay Electrician says online and even word-of-mouth references and reviews are wonderful in that they take the guesswork out of having to hire a good electrician.
What are Microgrids?
Microgrids are defined by three key characteristics: locality, independence, and intelligence. Producing the energy locally for nearby customers allows for greater efficiency, as opposed to a traditional power grid that serves a greater area by transmitting electricity over long, often inefficient power lines. Newer microgrids tend to include energy storage, a feature also typical of large, older microgrids.
A microgrid is typically connected to the main power grid but is capable of operating completely independently in “island mode,” using alternative power sources in case of outages affecting the main grid. The microgrid controller—the “intelligence” component of the system—enables the microgrid to automatically switch between the central grid and the microgrid at financially opportune times, such aspeak hours. Intelligent software—essentially the controller—increases or decreases the use of the microgrid’s resources to achieve specific goals, including cost minimization, clean energy, or other priorities set by the microgrid owner.
These features make microgrids ideal for a wide variety of applications varying in size and complexity. The largest microgrid in the U.S. is housed at the University of Texas at Austin, where it powers 100 percent of the power, heat, and cooling for the 20-million square-foot research university campus and achieves nearly 100% reliability. And while this 1930s-era microgrid is entirely dependent on natural gas as its fuel source, the chilled and thermal storage features of the facility have enabled it to hold the line on carbon emissions while more than doubling efficiency and capacity over the past 85 years.
Advantages of Microgrids
Environment Protection
Where does our electricity come from anyways? About 60% of electricity in the U.S. is generated from fossil fuels, primarily natural gas (40%) and coal (19%). The balance consists of 20% from nuclear energyand 20% from renewable energy sources, such as wind, hydro, and solar. Natural gasemits methane during production and pipeline transportand carbon dioxide when burned. Methane comprises 10-16% of all greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, second only to carbon dioxide at 76-80%. Scientists estimate that 60% of all methane in the atmosphere is due to human activity.
Microgrids offer an intrinsically versatile structure thatusesa combination ofenergy sources to maintain the integrity of an autonomous system. The integration of clean energy sources into themicrogrids, sometimes in combination with fossil fuel sources, offers a solution to reducing the human-caused impact on global warming by dramatically reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.
Reliability During Natural Disasters
There’s nothing quite like a hurricane to demonstrate the vulnerability of the traditional power grid system. Approximately 2.6 million people across five states were without power due to Hurricane Katrina; 23 days later, when only 75% of those people had their power restored, Hurricane Rita hit and caused further power outages. The interconnectivity of the grid is painfully clear when looking at the results of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, when 8.5 million people in 21 states as far west as Michigan lost power.
But it doesn’t need to be a catastrophic event to trigger a major glitch in such a tremulous system—in fact, the biggest blackout in the history of North America owes its infamy to some overgrown trees that brushed against a powerline in Ohio in 2003. Over 50 million people in the U.S. and Canada lost power for up to two days, costing $6 billion and contributing to 11 deaths.
Supplementing the central grid withsmaller microgrids ensures that if the power goes out in one sector, it doesn’t cause a ripple effect that impacts a huge portion of the population.
Financial Benefits
Electricity use during peak hours is a major source of financial burden for homeowners and communities as a whole. In Sterling, Massachusetts, a combination solar and storage microgrid installed in 2017 can power the town’s police station and emergency dispatch center for a minimum of two weeks. The entire system cost the town $2.7 million, which will pay itself off with state and federal grant funding. Without the grant funding, the system would pay itself off within seven years. These savings are largely due to reducing the town’s dependence on traditional energy sources during a single annual peak demand hour in New England.
Its autonomous capabilities allow the microgrid to use its stored energy reserves during peak hours and recharge during off-hours when electricity prices are lower. Not only does this benefit the citizens of the town, but it also provides economic relief to the entire New England region by reducing the overall electricity demand during regional peak hours.
Enhanced Security Against Cyberattacks
Concern over cyberattacks is at the forefront of modern defense and military interests. The quintessential example of such an attack is the December 2015 Ukraine power grid cyberattack—in which approximately 225,000 people were affected by a power outage synchronized across three electric power distribution companies and caused by the malware known as BlackEnergy.
By eliminating the accessibility of a single point of failure in a traditional grid, microgrids inherently offer a multitude of backup options for situations in which a cyberattack issuccessful. Microgrids provide redundancies and capabilities to further segment themselves into sub-grids, making them significantly more difficult to infiltrate than central power grids.
About Green Development LLC
Green Development LLC is the leading developer of utility-scale renewable energy projects in Rhode Island, specializing in wind, solar, and battery storage. The company delivers significant energy savings to municipalities, quasi-public entities, nonprofits, and other qualified entities through the virtual net metering program while providing long-term lease payments to landowners and farmers.
Since 2009, Green Development has been instrumental in transforming the energy mix in Rhode Island to clean, reliable energy. The company has developed more than 70 MW in solar and wind capacity, with plans to add 75 MW in 2021. Green Development is devoted to preserving farmland, reducing water and air pollution, increasing energy security, and creating local jobs. Current wind and solar sites reduce carbon emissions equivalent to using 8,557,790 gallons of gas each year.
