ELM FieldSight has partnered with power conversion specialist Ideal Power on a number of microgrid and related projects, designing and supplying the control system that makes the system tick, balancing the different distributed energy sources plugged into it. Vice president of operations Jason Petermeier shared his thoughts on recent projects, not-so-recent projects and where microgrids are heading.
Islands are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of natural disasters such as hurricanes. John Merritt of Ideal Power looks at some of the emerging solutions to building more resilient energy systems through the deployment of microgrids that combine multiple energy generation and storage technologies.
A project in Jamaica, pairing utility-scale solar with battery energy storage at a microgrid could become “a model for other countries in the Caribbean and beyond”, the head of the country’s main utility has said.
Microgrids ensure energy security for mission-critical loads at military bases, and reduce reliance on fuel during grid outages. While they have much in common with many of the technologies used in ‘other’ microgrids, the stringent technical requirements involved add a new layer of complexity, explain Lisa Laughner and Tony Soverns from provider Go Electric.
A US government energy saving scheme will pay out US$40 million for the development of a solar-plus-storage microgrid at a missile test site operated by the country’s military.
Major oil company Shell and European utility ENGIE are among investors to have pumped US$20 million into Husk Power Systems, a developer of microgrids which is expanding its efforts in Asia and Africa.
Autarsys GmbH is planning to develop an energy storage system and PV project in Mam Rashan, a refugee camp in the Dohuk district of northern Iraq near the Syrian and Turkish borders.
German renewables firm BayWa r.e. has commissioned a combined PV and battery system in Zambia’s Chisamba province, to supply irrigation for aquacultural farming.
Duke Energy is planning to develop and install battery storage materials and PV panels that will serve as part of a microgrid system at the Indiana National Guard’s Camp Atterbury in Johnson County, Indiana.
