In this week's microgrid news... A microgrid being installed at a data center is Minnesota is breaking the stereotype that the Midwest isn't a friendly place for combined heat and power (CHP). That’s the word from Justin Rathke, president of Vergent Power, the Capstone Turbine distributor for the Upper Midwest, New England and Eastern … [Read more...]
UW–Madison Microgrid Helps Power Industry in Milwaukee
May 29, 2015 By
Leslie Shown, of the Wisconsin Energy Institute, describes a University of Wisconsin-Madison microgrid research project that could help bolster Milwaukee's ailing economy. On the same site in Milwaukee where the A. O. Smith Corporation once built airplane and auto parts for the military during both world wars, University of Wisconsin-Madison … [Read more...]
Growing Microgrid Markets? An Energy Attorney’s View
April 19, 2015 By
Where and why are microgrid markets growing? Chad Marriott, an associate with Stoel Rives, Portland, who is an active member of the company's energy development team, says he's seeing interest first of all from industries with critical loads -- hospitals, for example. In addition, in the Pacific Northwest, certain types of energy-intensive … [Read more...]
Benefits Energy Storage Brings to Smart Microgrids
February 4, 2015 By
Smart microgrids are able to integrate renewable resources and allow for customer participation in the electrical grid through local power generation. Energy storage plays a critical role is a smart microgrids. Energy storage helps facilitate the use of renewable energy resources to power microgrids, while also protecting power stability and … [Read more...]
Alstom: The New Grid Will be a Constellation of Community Microgrids
December 18, 2014 By
We tend to describe microgrids as a way to keep the lights on when storms strike. But increasingly microgrids, especially community microgrids, are becoming central to a larger economic and sociological shift to local energy. The trend could be world-changing, but it certainly will be industry-changing, especially for a company like Alstom, … [Read more...]
What We Should Be Talking about When We Talk about Microgrids
December 4, 2014 By
Beware of anyone who tries to say we need more research & development before we move forward with microgrids. There are no technical barriers to microgrid deployment, but lots of regulatory barriers. And therefore, every dollar spent on an R&D or pilot program is a dollar not driving real progress. Full confession: I have a dog in the … [Read more...]
So Much Energy Storage Data, So Much to Do With It!
September 25, 2014 By
There’s a ton of data available from energy storage units, smart meters, weather forecasters, and other data producers. Ideally, this data can be used to forecast demand and weather, integrate renewable energy, shape customer usage, prevent outages, and cope with outages once they happen. But how can we integrate and analyze all this data to … [Read more...]
Let’s Stop Just Consuming and Become Part of the Internet of Energy
August 23, 2014 By
Ryan Wartena, CEO and founder of Growing Energy Labs, could have decided to create a new, inexpensive battery for energy storage, based on his experience working at the US Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C., where he learned how to make micro batteries. When he started GELI, his partner was working at Harvard University, and Wartena was at … [Read more...]
Asia Pacific Microgrid Investments to Total $30.8B from 2014-2023: Navigant Research
August 20, 2014 By
Asia Pacific microgrid investments will total $30.8 billion from 2014 to 2023, as demand for electrification and renewables grows in the region, according to a second quarter 2014 study by Navigant Research. The report, “Microgrids in Asia Pacific,” forecasts microgrid capacity growing from 37 MW in 2013 to 597.3 MW in 2023, when annual market … [Read more...]
New York Utility Seeks Approval to Offer Microgrid Subscriptions
July 28, 2014 By
Central Hudson Gas & Electric is seeking approval to offer microgrid subscriptions, as part of a $46 million rate hike request filed with state regulators July 25. The New York utility would design, build and operate microgrids at the request of customers, who would pay a fee for the service on their utility bills. The fee would be … [Read more...]
