microgrid

Siemens and SOLARKIOSK have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on June 20 at the Intersolar trade show. Both companies agree to join forces to enhance local businesses powered by SOLARKIOSK´s clean energy in non-electrified parts of rural Africa. SOLARKIOSK has deployed more than 250 projects in twelve countries serving roundabout 5 million people. The […]

Marine energy developer Minesto has completed the second offshore installation phase of its DG500 project in Wales. Having installed the tether, micro grid system buoy and umbilical, all supporting components and systems needed to deliver the power produced by Minesto’s first system of the unique Deep Green technology in Utility Scale are now in place. […]

ABB inaugurates innovative microgrid with battery energy storage at its Vadodora manufacturing campus – a first in India. ABB’s world-class power institute will train customers on latest technologies. (April 26, 2018) — ABB today inaugurated an innovative microgrid solution at its Vadodora manufacturing facility in Gujarat, India. This is the company’s largest facility in India, […]

More and more people are finding distributed energy solutions are the answer for their power resource challenges. Distributed energy comes in many forms. Renewables such as solar and wind are top-of-mind when most people think of distributed resources, but natural gas-fired generation is often a good fit too, because it adds reliability to the system […]

A transformation is underway in the energy sector where utility grid infrastructure is evolving to produce more energy from renewable sources and incorporate new advanced grid technologies. Technology concepts such as microgrids, and distributed and district energy help to localize our energy supply and allow us to generate, store, and consume energy in the places […]

Williamson College of the Trades’ Power Plant Technology program provides hands-on training for learners within its student-run power plant—known as the “Energy Island.” Through the program, students

ZURICH, Switzerland (March 7, 2018) – Deering and Buckland are two small villages in northwestern Alaska, with populations of 200 and 400 mostly indigenous Inupiaq people. For these residents, who rely heavily on fishing and hunting for their subsistence, life above the Arctic Circle is tough. Winter lasts for nine months with temperatures dipping to […]

Microgrid deployment is rapidly taking hold worldwide, a new report from Navigant Research suggests. As of the fourth quarter of 2017, the research group’s Microgrid Deployment Tracker had identified 1,869 projects—representing a total capacity of 20.7 GW—operating, under development, or proposed across 123 countries worldwide. That compares to 18 GW of microgrid capacity identified in […]

Multiple disparate trends could forcefully reshape power systems around the world. As electricity markets transform, technologies advance, industries converge, consumption patterns change, environmental

U.S. utilities continue to send workers to Puerto Rico to help restore that country’s electricity and rebuild its power infrastructure, a task that continues more than four months after back-to-back hurricanes left nearly all of the island in the dark. The Puerto Rican government this week said 83% of the island’s generation capacity has been […]

  Latest edition of Navigant Research’s Microgrid Deployment Tracker now includes microgrid projects that are on hold January 31, 2018 – Boulder, CO – A new report from Navigant Research presents data on known grid-tied and remote microgrid projects in the proposal, planning, and deployed stages across six geographies and seven microgrid segments. Since 2Q […]

When is a D+ grade acceptable? The answer should be never. But that’s the state of the U.S. power grid according to the 2017 infrastructure report card issued by the American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE). And the impact of this year’s catastrophic hurricane season only reinforced its vulnerability. Given the billions of dollars of […]

A Houston-based microgrid company has used its on-site generators and underground natural gas pipeline system to enable H-E-B grocery stores in the Houston area to remain open despite power outages and massive flooding during and in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Texas utilities have reported more than 300,000 customers have been without power at various […]

The challenge was to take a facility that was far off the grid, and move it forward as an energy self-sufficient complex while also turning an idea into a commercially viable product. That was the impetus

Self-contained, small islands of electric generation, storage and distribution inside the existing grid–microgrids–could be the next big thing in electricity. But some argue they may be just another

SMA Sunbelt commissioned a 1.89 MW solar PV and 1 MW / 572 kWh Li-Ion battery energy storage system, in March 2016. The objective of the retrofitted renewable energy plant is to reduce the diesel consumption of existing diesel generators. THEnergy has performed a data analysis for the first year of operations. Large-scale hybrid systems […]

ABB is bringing affordable, safe and reliable electricity to remote communities thanks to its new integrated microgrid solution, MGS100, that enables solar power and battery energy storage.  Zurich, Switzerland, May 24, 2017 – The MGS100 has been built to perform in extreme environments, and has the ability to transform lives and businesses for the better […]

S&C Electric Company, a smart grid leader shaping the future of power delivery announced today that it has provided the intelligent automation and control systems for Ameren Corporation’s microgrid facility in Champaign, Illinois. Located at Ameren’s Technology Applications Center (TAC) near the University of Illinois campus, the Ameren microgrid provides multiple sources of distributed generation […]

Company’s Y.Cube C&I energy storage systems at the heart of Peña Station NEXT development  Berlin (Germany) and Denver, Colorado (USA), April 18, 2017 – Younicos has commissioned a 1 MW / 2 MWh lithium-ion battery system in partnership with Panasonic and Xcel Energy. The news was announced at the Energy Storage Association’s 27th Annual Conference, which offered […]

 The utility distribution microgrid market may be limited without regulatory clarity, report finds   March 2, 2016 – Boulder, CO – A recent report from Navigant Research examines the US utility distribution microgrid (UDM) market, with a focus on technology and policy trends, customer adoption, utility deployments, and the vendor landscape, through 2024. Utilities are […]

French multinational power company ENGIE on October 20 inaugurated a mini-network comprising 16 kW of solar photovoltaic panels, a 45-kWh lithium-ion battery bank, and a back-up genset to supply power to Ketumbeine, a village in northern Tanzania with about 800 residents. The PowerCorner project (Figure 6) was launched in early 2015. ENGIE said the project […]

Link between Energy Storage, Renewable Power Takes on Water-Energy Nexus, Lowers Costs NEWS PROVIDED BY Advanced Microgrid Solutions  Oct 20, 2016, 16:09 ET CHINO, Calif. and SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Clean tech energy storage leader Advanced Microgrid Solutions(AMS) and the Inland Empire Utilities Agency (IEUA) today launched a landmark water-energy project using advanced energy storage systems to better integrate […]

Big or small? Centralized or distributed? The answer, at least for energy storage, may be both, but what that future may be is unclear, if early discussions at the Energy Storage North America (ESNA) conference in San Diego October 4–6 are anything to go by. Speaking on the first night’s opening keynote panel, Colin Cushnie, […]

International Consortium to Provide Grid Solutions for U.S., Canada SAN FRANCISCO and TORONTO, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Opus One Solutions (Opus One), Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS) and a consortium of partners today announced a $12.4 million USD North American multi-utility microgrid project. Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) will provide $4 million USD in funding […]

Reliability and cybersecurity ranked as the two most important issues currently confronting the electric industry, according to surveys completed by 672 qualified utility, municipal, commercial, and community stakeholders for Black & Veatch’s “2016 Strategic Directions: Electric Industry Report.” It’s not particularly surprising to see reliability rank at the top of the list. “Reliability has always […]

CHATSWORTH, Calif., Aug. 08, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Capstone Turbine Corporation (www.capstoneturbine.com) (Nasdaq:CPST), the world’s leading clean technology manufacturer of microturbine energy systems, announced today that it received an order for a C600 Signature Series microturbine for a microgrid project in Beijing, China. Capstone’s distributor, Beijing Haohai Power, secured the order, which is expected to […]

Although new microgrid configurations, technologies, and business models are still evolving in the U.S., some lessons have been learned in the past few years. Aside from the fact that financing nontraditional/non-campus microgrids is hard, if there’s one overarching lesson, it’s that a microgrid designed to provide only one benefit or rely on only one generation source is unlikely to succeed.

Looking to ensure reliable power for a critical facility—as well as move the needle on microgrid technology—Texas’s largest transmission company went all-in on a state-of-the-art demonstration project that sets a new standard for future smart grid deployments. Having a 100% uninterruptible power supply for a commercial facility is far from a unique requirement. Traditionally, meeting […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) will designate $8 million for seven microgrid projects to help cities and towns better prepare for extreme weather events and other power disruptions. The funding will help develop advanced microgrid controllers and system designs for microgrids of less than 10 MW. Each projects includes a company cost-share, ranging from 20% […]

Anyone who follows either the energy industry or the military knows that all branches of the U.S. military have aggressive goals for renewable energy and for improving energy security and independence. Microgrids are a key part of that plan. When I wrote about military microgrids in “The Military Gets Smart Grid” back in January 2012, […]