pwr-re-tech_september-2024 - 12

COMING TOGETHER FOR CLEAN ENERGY
MICROGRIDS
and more frequent extreme weather
events, and aggressive decarboniza3.
This microgrid in Onslow, a remote community in Western Australia, serves customers of Horizon
Power. It features an advanced microgrid controller and a distributed energy resources management
system from PXiSE, a San Diego, California-based grid management company. Source: Horizon Power
Energy Storage
The systems in San Diego and elsewhere
illustrate how battery energy
storage increasingly is being incorporated
into microgrid design, to support
increased power production and more
flexible electricity dispatch.
" Battery energy storage systems
maximize the impact of microgrids. By
decoupling production and consumption,
storage allows consumers to use
energy whenever and wherever it is
most needed, " said Vinayagam. " To
reduce energy costs, a facility with
a microgrid can leverage a BESS to
store power from variable renewable
energy [VRE] sources, such as solar or
wind, and substitute the stored energy
for utility power when utility rates
are highest in an attempt to arbitrage. "
Vinayagam added, " A BESS can also
make a microgrid more resilient. In a
utility outage or a temporary drop in
energy generated by the microgrid,
the BESS can come online almost instantly
to support critical loads. Finally,
energy storage advances decarbonization
initiatives by helping the organization
maximize the self-consumption
of renewable energy. This also accelerates
the ROI [return on investment]
from a microgrid. "
Redflow, an Australian energy storage
company, is supporting a microgrid
in Tasmania, Australia. The BESS at
that site is a project watched by the
Australian Renewable Energy Agency
(ARENA), which is backing trial deployments
of two different non-lithium
battery technologies at microgrids in
Western Australia. ARENA in March of
this year said the trial is aimed at determining
whether sodium-sulfur and
zinc-bromine hybrid flow batteries can
help integrate rooftop solar PV onto local
electricity networks.
ARENA is providing financial help
to Horizon Power, an energy company
owned by the state government
of Western Australia, to install the
systems at two remote sites (Figure
3) through ARENA's Regional Microgrids
Program. The agency said the trial
is a test of two long-duration energy
storage, or LDES, technologies. The
systems are touted as suitable for applications
that require duration of six
hours or more. The Australia locations
also will help determine viability in extremely
hot environments.
Redflow projects in the U.S. include
a flow battery storage solution at the
waste-to-energy Rialto Bioenergy Facility
in California. The site provides
organic waste recycling and renewable
energy generation services to
local government authorities and solid
waste haulers. Anaergia constructed
an on-site microgrid as part of the
project to maximize the use of on-site
generated power and to limit their
peak load from the grid.
Expect Higher Microgrid Adoption
A
recent report from Colorado-headquartered
Guidehouse Insights looked
at the trends that influence microgrid
adoption across the U.S. The group in
a news release said the report found
that " customers in all segments are
increasingly investigating microgrids in
the face of rising retail electricity rates,
persistent grid outages from more
12 Supplement to POWER & RE+ 2024
tion goals. "
" As retail electricity rates continue
to rise, the frequency and intensity of
extreme weather events causing grid
outages increases, and decarbonization
goals become more aggressive, customers
in all segments are investigating
microgrids, " said Dan Power, senior
research analyst with Guidehouse Insights.
" Customer interest in installing
microgrids depends on numerous factors
linked to their geographic location
and the system's intended use case.
Understanding these factors is crucial
to facilitating continued market growth. "
That growth curve is expected to
trend upward as more groups look
for technologies to support a reliable
and resilient supply of electricity. Said
Siira, " More than anything else, microgrids
provide enhanced continuity of
electric services or power 'availability'
during major event days for the grid.
Microgrids also provide the flexibility
to expand capacity and functionality
once implemented into the overall
system. For example, this could include
increasing the integration of renewable
energy sources as demand
and technology capabilities advance,
without having to go through interconnection
approval at a site. "
There are other considerations, in
addition to reliability and resiliency,
that will likely support microgrid adoption.
" The most important feature of a
microgrid isn't a single benefit, but its
ability to deliver multiple wins for the
customer, " said Vinayagam. " Reliability
is a critical foundation microgrids keep
the lights on during outages and serve
the critical loads of the site, but that's
just the beginning. When combined
with cost savings and environmental
impact, microgrids become even
more attractive. Advanced software
solutions are the key to unlocking
these multiple benefits. By intelligently
managing energy use, storage and
generation, microgrids can optimize
costs, maximize renewable energy
use and improve overall efficiency. " n
-Darrell Proctor is senior editor for
POWER.

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