Microgrids: Key to Energy Security, Resiliency and Clean Energy. Marita Mirzatuny Project Manager, Smart Power U.S. Climate & Energy EDF

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1 Microgrids: Key to Energy Security, Resiliency and Clean Energy Marita Mirzatuny Project Manager, Smart Power U.S. Climate & Energy EDF

2 Smart Power: Smart Grid + Efficiency 9 state strategy: New Jersey, New York & Texas Microgrids: component of a smart grid - versatility, intelligence, scale, cellular, digital small, decentralized power grids generate & store their own electricity mix of alternative power sources typically solar, microturbines, fuel cells & natural gas Dr. Alexis Kwasinki Self-supporting grids = building blocks of smart grids Their distinguishing feature = can separate & isolate from the main utility grid when there is a disturbance w/ little or no disruption to their own power supply. Dr. Alexis Kwasinki Thomas Edison's first power plant in Manhattan, Pearl Street Station, served electricity to only small section

3 Security Resilience Clean Energy By my accounting, a resilient, microgridbased, and 80%-renewable electricity system would cost about the same as business-as-usual, greatly strengthening national and family security as a free bonus. - Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute

4 Security Abroad: Lessen need for foreign fossil fuels and foreign wars At home: Fortified system, but cybersecurity must be robust. Physical attacks still threat Bases functioning as microgrids: --Decoupling from the commercial grid --Become reliability resources - supplying power & reducing demand Enable the military to meet aggressive low-carbon goals, domestic energy resources, particularly RE on or near bases Sec. of the Navy Ray Mabus goal: ½ Navy power from renewable resources by 2015

5 Resiliency Storms, attacks, random failures, vulnerable Clean Energy Demand-side resources: renewables demand response efficiency storage electric vehicles Localized Area prone to hurricanes: natural gas - pipes run underground & not easily damaged Areas prone to earthquakes: natural gas is not as viable gas usually interrupted by fire or leaks caused by the disaster

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9 New Jersey & New York Suffered $30+ billion in damage - most of it along the Jersey shore 2.6 million households lost power - many of them for weeks and some for months 5 days after Sandy hit: 1/3 of New Jersey s homes & businesses still did not have electricity Microgrids: Reduce recovery time Keep crews and customers safer Economical Prevent cascading disasters - 55 million people in 2003 single tree fell on OH power line Automated systems detect a fault, cordon it off and reroute power flow around it Two-way communications/meters = real-time, granular visibility not wild goose chases Last gasp signal Most RE in NJ & NY appear to have weathered Sandy relatively well Problem: Switching and the ability to isolate/island Heightened cost Rigorous permitting which serves as a disincentive Solutions: Batteries: fix/firm up the self-discharging problem Switches/Invertors: automatic, safety, seamless IEEE-1547: U.S. industry consensus standard = specifies how to wire RE & other DG to keep utility workers safe and ensure resilient, uninterruptible power supplies for customers Obsolete rules don t allow this smart feature to be activated

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11 New Jersey & New York Success stories were located across the region: 60K in Co-op City, Bronx CHP operating independently of grid Parts of Princeton & NYU Midtown Community School, NJ: solar panels & generator place to stay for over 50 residents during the storm Long Island kw solar array & battery bank. We had friends and neighbors coming over to charge phones and batteries. In lower Manhattan, the community group Solar One provided power to residents to charge NJ: Powered home by Toyota Prius hybrid & inverter-based power balancing controls, ensured right voltage and frequency Gov. Christie: $25 million - federal funds - variety of alternative energy solutions microgrids, solar power with energy storage & natural gas-powered on-site generators Range of projects, including: Retrofitting existing DG (fuel cells or CHP) to provide increased capacity Engineering studies to design new DG technologies Buying diesel, solar or natural gas-powered generators Purchasing dynamic inverters and storage for existing solar panels

12 Texas Hurricanes 2005 Katrina: 700K in LA + MS + AL = 1 million w/o power 2008 Ike: Cat 4-99 % or 2 million lost power After 13 days = ¼ of 4 th largest U.S. city still w/o 2010 CenterPoint Energy: Smart grid rollout = shorter hurricane-related outages in future Best ROI to improve grid resilience & enable storm recovery system-wide -City of Houston to the PUC Tornadoes 2011: Alabama Power: 30 tornadoes across 70 miles winds ~190 mph 400K w/o power & thousands of poles, wires, substations damaged or destroyed 1.4m smart meters = locate the outages, prioritize repairs = restoration within week & 4 million fewer miles per year Smart Cities COA Climate resiliency advisory PUC and ERCOT Modify existing rules & policies

13 904 participants Mueller: 286 With PV: 208 With EV: 72 - highest concentration in U.S. 64% reduction in GHG

14 Climate Change Existing American energy infrastructure is highly vulnerable to climate change Increasing temperatures will stress the U.S. water system and enhance the likelihood of drought Conventional power plants = huge volumes of water to operate Lower water availability = less reliable power Prompt more extreme & frequent storms, increasing energy demand due to extreme temperature changes and threatening our aging and already stressed electric grid with potential blackouts climate change Strain increased electricity use burn fossil fuels

15 On a moonlit night on Wednesday, August 10, 2011, a boat is beached in the Cypress Creek arm of Lake Travis. Waterfront properties in this area of Lake Travis barely have a view of water, and their boats and docks rest on dry land. (Statesman)

16 Hundreds of acres of corn were destroyed by the drought on this farm in Round Rock on Tuesday, July 12, (Statesman)

17 climate storms less fossils resiliency microgrids Thank You Questions? Marita Mirzatuny blogs.edf.org/energyexchange