Microgrid Study: Energy Security for DoD Installations

Abstract

Growing concerns about the vulnerability of the electric grid, uncertainty about the cost of oil, and an increase in the deployment of renewable generation on domestic military installations have all led the Department of Defense (DoD) to reconsider its strategy for providing energy security for critical domestic operations. Existing solutions typically use dedicated backup generators to service each critical load. For large installations, this can result in over 50 small generators, each servicing a low voltage feeder to an individual building. The system as a whole is typically not well integrated either internally, with nearby renewable assets, or to the larger external grid. As a result, system performance is not optimized for efficient, reactive, and sustainable operations across the installation in the event of a power outage or in response to periods of high stress on the grid. Recent advances in energy management systems and power electronics provide an opportunity to interconnect multiple sources and loads into an integrated system that can then be optimized for reliability, efficiency, and/or cost. These integrated energy systems, or microgrids, are the focus of this study. 4. ENVIRONMENT 4.1 Location-dependent characteristics (resources and weather) 4.2 Domestic electric grid characteristics 4.3 Department of Defense installation characteristics 5. MODELING AND ANALYSIS 5.1 Description of microgrid architectures 5.2 Analysis methodology 5.3 Analysis inputs 5.4 Analysis results 6. RECOMMENDATIONS

Integration of distributed energy resources in isolated microgrids: the Colombian paradigm

“…These concepts are linked to the resilience of the active distribution networks and ancillary services, which give the system the capacity to provide a continuous service despite the occurrence of events [11]. Table 1 shows a summary of the benefits and the related challenges that would guarantee technical sustainability in the isolated or interconnected microgrid mode.…”

“…These concepts are linked to the resilience and the ability of isolated microgrids to provide a continuous supply of electricity to connected users despite the occurrence of events in the system (ancillary services) [11].…”

Interdependence of the Electricity Generation System and the Natural Gas System and Implications for Energy Security

“…Traditionally, the DoD has provided energy security with individual backup generators, but recently has begun to examine microgrids, power systems that can purposefully disconnect from the utility grid and operate in an islanded mode, as a more robust and cost-effective solution to long-term power outages [17,18]. As microgrid systems become larger and need to provide more power, they generally have larger generators as a part of their power generation scheme.…”

Three-Phase Unbalanced Transient Dynamics and Powerflow for Modeling Distribution Systems With Synchronous Machines

“…M ICROGRIDS are most commonly deployed to provide high reliability power to critical or remote end-use loads [1]. This is motivated by a desire for improved power quality or backup generation to increase reliability [1].…”

“…This is motivated by a desire for improved power quality or backup generation to increase reliability [1]. Currently, the deployment of microgrids is limited due to the costs of design, construction, and operation.…”