IEEE Electrification - December 2020 - 6

TECHNOLOGY LEADERS

Ingredients for a Microgrid at
U.S. Department of Defense Installations
By John Kliem and Dennis McGinn

HE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
the Navy has vital installations with energy security
gaps that can put the installation's
essential missions at risk. Military
bases that have electrical reliability
and resiliency issues make it challenging to consistently conduct U.S.
Navy and Marine Corps operations,
training, and testing of weapon
systems. The U.S. Department of
Defense's budget must first prioritize
resources to support the procurement of weapon systems and service
warfare capabilities per the National
Defense Strategy. This prioritization
often results in a lack of budget
resources for installation electrical
infrastructure improvements. To deal
with this challenge, the U.S. Navy
and Marine Corps developed a technical and financial recipe for establishing microgrids that close energy
security gaps-without cost to the
taxpayer-and greatly reduce risks to
installation mission accomplishment. This article discusses the key
ingredients of that recipe.
The essential ingredients are clear
target goals, empowered teams, and
partnership transactions. And on a
technical basis, there is an added
secret ingredient: a high-speed
switch. The clear target is a corporate
decision by the U.S. Navy and Marine

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MELE.2020.3026435
Date of current version: 30 November 2020

Corps to spend time focusing and
the United States' most extensive sea
solving a significant energy security
range and can test weapons underproblem that is impacting the missea, on the surface of the water, in
sion of the U.S. Navy and Marine
the air, and in space. The installation
Corps. The teams consist of installaexperienced decades of power-qualition personnel, contracting officers,
ty and quantity problems, adversely
utility companies, and the private
impacting mission accomplishment.
sector. They all work together to
For many years, to deal with energy
achieve the objective of energy secuinsecurity issues for the PMRF,
rity with a microgrid. The transaction
multiple expensive and redundant
mechanism is the leasing of installastandby generators were used. This
tion land to a private
problem affected
entity to install and
both the U.S. Navy
The essential
operate an electrical
and the Kauai Island
ingredients are clear
generation plant on
Utility C o m p a ny
target goals,
U.S. Navy or Marine
(KIUC). The State of
empowered teams,
Corps property, mainHawaii further chally to support the
lenged the team by
and partnership
for-profit business.
requiring the solutransactions.
However, the key bention to comply with
efit to the military
Hawaii's renewable
installation is that whenever there is
energy mandates. The team was not
a problem in the grid electricity supgoing to permanently solve the misply, the private entity must prioritize
sion-energy security problem by simand first support the installation's
ply building more diesel generation
mission-energy needs. The secret
with additional taxpayer dollars. The
technical ingredient to enable this
target was clearly that the U.S. Navy
mutually beneficial arrangement is
and KIUC needed to come up with a
the high-speed switch that ensures
different energy solution for mission
the on-base electrical generation sysassurance that would meet the U.S.
tem seamlessly picks up the facility's
Navy's budget constraints and KIUC's
load without impacting the mission.
requirements for renewable energy.
The recipe for the microgrid
The next essential microgrid ingrealways begins with the target. In a
dient was the team. The U.S. Navy and
key example, the Pacific Missile
KIUC needed new electrical generaRange Facility (PMRF) in Kauai Island,
tion to support their requirements.
Hawaii, had significant power-quality
Both had experienced professionals
and quantity problems. The PMRF is
working to address challenging grid

I E E E E l e c t r i f i cati o n M agaz ine / DECEMBER 2020

IEEE Electrification - December 2020

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