Microgrids offer advantages for reliability and bringing more renewables onto the grid.
1. What are the benefits of integrating renewable energy with microgrids?
The obvious first benefit is related to cost of generation reduction. With the increasing costs of traditional fossil fuel based generation, such as diesel, and the reduction in dollar-per-watt cost for renewables such as wind, the tipping point for renewables in remote microgrids has been passed. For remote and islanded areas such as Alaska, Northern Canada and the Caribbean, which have excellent wind and solar resources, it’s a no brainer. A secondary benefit, and some would argue just as important, is the avoided environmental impact due to transport and storage of fossil fuels in these remote pristine areas.
2. Do microgrids increase the reliability of the grid?
If we are looking at the main utility grid, the short answer is…
3. How do microgrids deal with the uncertain ups and downs of wind and solar power?
In main grid applications the connection point is generally strong enough to withstand the fluctuations from wind and solar. In remote microgrids the problem is…
Author
William Galton
Project Manager, ABB
