Renewable Energy Microgrids

When renewable energy generation is paired with battery storage, electrified heating and cooling systems, and smart grid technology, the potential exists to create a microgrid: essentially a system of power generation and storage with the ability to “island”, or disconnect from the main electrical grid, to continue operating during power outages. Microgrid resilience hubs provide an important pathway to develop increased community resilience in the face of prolonged power outages, establishing centers in which critical services can continue to be powered and at which community members can take refuge to stay warm, cool down, power devices, and store medication that requires refrigeration. Microgrids can provide significant benefits to the surrounding grid operation as well, as grid upgrades are often required for interconnection and grid balancing technologies are often involved. 

Sandia National Lab’s visit to MDI

Over the past two years, ACTT has participated in a technical assistance program through the U.S. Department of Energy known as the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project or ETIPP. Through this program, ACTT has received extensive technical assistance from Sandia National Laboratory and has focused this support on planning efforts related to microgrid-based resilience hubs for the island. The work has included running analyses of social burden (a measure of the impact power outages have on different parts of the island population) and running preliminary plans for reenwable energy microgrids for several potential locations. Sandia’s team has also trained ACTT staff in the use of a microgrid design tool, enabling us to support the island community with microgrid design.

We have been exploring specific potentials for microgrid-based resilience hubs in the parts of MDI with high social burden and are following specific grant potentials through the federal government that could fund implementation.