Question Of The Week: Is A Microgrid In Your Facility’s Future?

Have you considered an on-site microgrid for your facility? Has your utility provider ventured into this arena in your service areas? What are your experiences, or questions, regarding microgrids? In California, three state agencies will begin discussion on May 24 of a roadmap to commercialize microgrids in the state.microgrid

Describing it as the first step to commercializing microgrids in the state, the California Energy Commission, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), and California Independent System Operator (California ISO) is conducting a workshop on May 24, 2016 to develop a roadmap that will help commercialize microgrids in that state. The purpose of the workshop is to introduce a proposed work scope and describe the process for developing a coordinated California state agency roadmap for the commercialization of microgrids.

Microgrids are small-scale electrical systems that provide and manage power independent of the larger electric grid. These can be used to support facilities with critical energy needs like military installations, hospitals, industrial complexes, or university campuses. Many of these grids incorporate clean energy resources such as solar photovoltaic and have the ability to store energy using batteries and other technologies.

The Energy Commission notes: Microgrids are important in meeting California’s energy goals because they help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, support grid reliability, and facilitate higher levels of distributed generation.

Representatives from the Energy Commission, the CPUC, and the California ISO will discuss how stakeholders including utilities, microgrid owners, and manufacturers can help address barriers hindering the wide scale deployment of microgrid technologies.

The event will take place at the Energy Commission offices in Sacramento, CA on Tuesday, May 24, 2016, 1:30-5:30pmPST. Interested parties can also attend remotely; instructions to do so can be found here on the Energy Commission website.

Agenda
The Energy Commission, CPUC, and California ISO will introduce the roadmapping effort to the public and stakeholders. The agencies will present an overview on work that has been completed to date that will contribute to the development of the roadmap. The agencies will also provide an overview of the work scope and schedule for the roadmap as well as describe the processes for how stakeholders can contribute to the development of the roadmap.

Background
A microgrid roadmap is being developed to address the full range of issues that are delaying or hindering the commercialization of microgrid technologies. The results of this effort will help to address many of these issues by having a coordinated California state agency roadmap for the commercialization of microgrids in California. In September 2015, the Energy Commission published a report prepared by DNV GL titled, “Microgrid Assessment and Recommendation(s) to Guide Future Investments.”

The report identifies barriers to developing and deploying microgrids in California and includes findings from an online survey and public workshop at the Energy Commission in March 2015. A key recommendation in the report is that the state should develop a roadmap that specifically maps the “barriers that exist for microgrids and how the California stakeholders, including regulatory agencies, the California systems operator, utilities, and microgrid owners and developers, can address[the barriers].”

Have you considered an on-site microgrid for your facility? Has your utility provider ventured into this arena in your service areas? What are your experiences, or questions, regarding microgrids?