Microgrid

1. MicrogridBenefits: Eight Ways a Micro-grid will Improve Your Operation…and the World
Microgridsserve industries,institutions,communitiesand other customers in a range of ways. Here
we look at eight main microgrid benefits – from keeping the lights in a storm to lowering energy
costs to improving community well-being.
Eight microgrid benefits:
1. A microgrid improves electric reliability
Among microgrid benefits, electric reliability has gotten the most attention since 2012 when
SuperstormSandyknockedoutpowertoabouteight million electric customers in 15 states and the
District of Columbia. Some outages lasted two weeks or more. Some people suffering in the
darkness noticed that neighboring buildings still had their lights. Those were facilities with
microgrids.
Poweroutagesaren’tonlyaninconvenience, they can be dangerous. When a Manhattan hospital’s
back-upgeneratorsfailedduringthe storm, medical personnel hadtoevacuate ill babies by carrying
them down long, dark flights of stairs, as they manually pumped air into their lungs.
Microgrids keep the power flowing by disconnecting – or islanding – from the central grid when it
begins to fail. The microgrid’s generators, and possibly batteries, then serve the microgrid’s
customers until power is restored on the central grid.
2. A microgrid enhances resilience/recovery
Closelyrelatedtoelectricreliabilityisthe ideaof energyresilience.Whilereliabilityis about keeping
the poweron,resiliencedescribesthe abilityto avoid power outages in the first place or to recover
quickly if they do occur.
Resilience isalso among the microgrid benefits that came to the fore following Superstorm Sandy.
Its importance has been underscored in a series of lesser storms since.
In some cases, a microgrid immediately restores power to an entire building or operation, leaving
occupants barely aware a disturbance occurred.
In other cases, a microgrid is programmed to restore only critical services within a facility. So a
college campus, for example, might configure its microgrid to restore power to research labs and
dininghalls,butperhapsnotswimmingpoolsorperipheralacademicoffices.Withcritical operations
up and running,the universitycanmaintain a minimal and crucial level of service. Once the central
grid is repaired, the facility can resume normal operations more quickly because it did not have to
shut down completely.
3. A microgrid can lower energy costs for consumers and businesses
Microgrids can both reduce costs and provide a revenue stream for their customers. They reduce
costs throughthe efficientmanagementof energysupply.Theysupplyrevenue bysellingenergyand
services back to the grid. This gives consumers a new kind of control in energy markets. They no
longer just consume energy, but also can produce and control it through their microgrids. Such
customers are called prosumers.

2. Microgrids can earn revenue by providing ancillary services to the central grid. Ancillary services
provide support functions for the grid, such as frequency control and spinning reserve.
Advanced microgrids also are adept at leveraging energy pricing. Electricity prices fluctuate
throughout the day based on expected and historical demand. An advanced microgrid controller,
known as the brain of the system, can leverage this fluctuation on its customers behalf. The
microgriddoesthisbyorchestratingthe play of its assets with the rise and fall of electric pricing on
the grid.Whendemandfor gridenergyishighand gridpricesincrease,the controller may signal the
microgrid to use more of its own resources to avert paying the higher prices. If the microgrid has
excess capacity, it may sell it back to the grid.
Because itusesitsassetsto maximize valueovertime,then,the microgridserves its customers with
bothshort and long-termpricingplanning.The extenttowhich it can do this, however, will depend
on the sophistication of the microgrid controller and regional wholesale market rules.
Microgrids also can gain economic benefit by joining utility demand response programs, or by
participatinginstate andfederal cleanenergyprograms,suchasstate renewable portfolio standard
initiatives or federal production tax credits. Some states have grant programs specifically for
microgrids.
In areaswhere electricity costs are high – such as the Northeast and California – microgrids may be
able to consistentlyprovideenergyatalowercost.Microgridcustomersthen receive benefits, such
as reliability and cleaner energy, yet pay lower prices for energy.
4. A microgrid improves the environment and promotes clean energy
Many businessesandcommunitiesestablish clean energy goals to conserve energy and reduce the
environmental impact of their power generation.
Microgridscan employ a wide range of green power production technologies. These include solar,
wind,fuel cells, combined heat and power (CHP) plants, and energy storage technologies. Natural
gas generators, used in many CHP plants, fall on the cleaner side of fossil fuels.
Microgridsintegrate these renewablesintothe energymix intelligently.Theyseamlesslybalancethe
variable output of renewable energy with traditional generation assets. In doing so, the microgrid
overcomesthe downsideof solarandwindenergy –theyonlygenerate powerwhenthe windblows
or sun shines. Tith no human intervention — tap into other resources when renewable energy is
unavailable.
Advanced microgrids can be programmed to achieve specific sustainability goals, such as use of
lowest carbon resources to the maximum extent possible.
A microgrid benefits even those outside its footprint
5. A microgrid strengthens the central grid
In addition to serving its own customers, a microgrid benefits neighbors, as well, when its used to
strengthen the broader electric grid.
It doesthisina fewways. One isbyaugmentingnormal gridoperation;forexample,byparticipating
in demand response programs or providing ancillary services.
Microgridsalsocan helpease strain on the central grid during periods of peak demand. They act as
an additional resource grid operators can call upon during these periods.

3. Use of microgrids averts line loss – the dissipation of electricity as it travels over wires. Microgrids
are builtclose tothe customerstheyserve,unlike large central power plants that may have to push
theirelectricityhundredsof milestoreachtheircustomers.Lessline lossmeanswe use more of the
electricitywe produce.Indoingso,we avertthe need to build more power plants and transmission
lines to serve the central grid.
In fact, because microgrids can be less expensive to build and maintain than new grid substations,
transmissionorothergridinfrastructure,theycanact as ‘non-wiresalternatives’ — a resource built
to improve reliability in lieu of more expensive grid repairs or upgrades.
6. A microgrid bolsters cyber security
A massive ransomware attack in May 2017 heightened worldwide concern about cybersecurity.
Affecting 150 nations, the malware infected hundreds of thousands of businesses and institutions
from British hospitals to FedEx in the U.S.
The U.S. power grid has not been inflicted with a cyberattack that causes loss of power, but many
experts are concerned about its vulnerability and are taking pro-active measures. Installing
microgrids is among them.
Military installations and utilities have taken keen notice of cybersecurity. For example, Ameren
Illinois has developed a 1.475 MW project that is one of the most technologically advanced utility-
scale microgridsinNorthAmerica.Amerenis the first utility to install a military-grade cyber secure
microgridcontrollerInadditiontoadvancedcontrols,the microgridincludeswind, solar, natural gas
and energy storage.
The distributed architecture of a microgrid makes it more resistant to cyber-attack. Should one
generator be attacked, the microgrid has other power sources to rely on.
7. A microgrid brings economic value to society:
Microgridsoffereconomicvalue tosocietyinseveral ways.First,they avertlossof product and work
daysduringa poweroutage.Second, they attract high quality employers to a region. Third, as local
energy plants, they keep jobs within the community.
By islanding from the grid during a power outage – and continuing to supply customers via onsite
generators – microgrids avert significant economic loss. Businesses do not have to close; workers
can get to their jobs.
Poweroutagesare costly,especially to research facilities, data centers, manufacturers and grocery
stores that lose product or services
The cost of outages to the U.S. economy ranges from $25 to $70 billion annually, depending on the
number of storms, according to a Congressional Research Service study. Just a 30-minute
interruption could cost a medium or large business or factory more than $15,000.
Given how expensive outages are to business, it is no surprise that enterprises dependent on
premium power are attracted to communities with microgrids. By offering reliable power, these
communities can attract high quality employers, like data centers and pharmaceutical
manufacturers.

4. It’s also important to note that the construction and operation of the microgrid creates local jobs.
The communityisnot usingpowerfroma planthundredsof milesaway.Aslocal energy,a microgrid
benefits the local economy directly.
For all of these reasons, some communities now make microgrids part of their economic planning.
.
8. A microgrid improves community well-being
When a storm or other disaster knocks out power; at best it’s an inconvenience; at worst it’s a
health and safety threat, especially if critical facilities cannot operate. As a result, more and more
communities are installing microgrids to serve hospitals, police stations, fire departments,
communications centers and wastewater treatment plants.
The geographicregionservedbythe microgridbecomesanislandof power.Sometimesshelters and
grocerystoresand gas stationsare included within the microgrid’s service area. The neighborhood
becomes a place of refuge, where community members can come to buy food, get clean water,
charge cell phones and gas up cars.
Some communities provide microgrids for public housing where residents are restricted in their
abilitytoevacuate duringanemergency.Others protect power supply to direct care providers such
as homeless shelters, nursing homes and medical satellite facilities.
Here are just three examples of how a microgrid benefits society:
 Solar microgrids in Africa and India provide rural electrification and economic development to
areas where no electric grid exists – or none with reliable power.
 PrincetonUniversity’smicrogrid kept the lights and heat on while most of New Jersey was dark
and chillyduringSuperstormSandy.Firstresponders came there to get warm and share a pot of
coffee.
 Vested in sustainability, Seton Healthcare Family in Austin, Texas wanted to marry energy
reliability with its sustainability goals. To meet both needs, Seton chose to power their new
medical facility with a CHP plant microgrid that would not only provide power, but also
sustainably capture waste heat from the combustion process to provide district heating.
Conclusion
A microgridbenefitsitscustomersandsociety in many ways. It keep the lights on when the central
grid fails. It offers a way to upgrade the distribution grid, harden infrastructure, and protect
vulnerable communities. Through sophisticated, automated energy management, a microgrid
can bolstercleanenergyuse andcan create economicvalue for customers — as well as the broader
grid. And finally using a microgrid promotes local control, what some call the democratization of
energy and the rise of the prosumer.