Why develop a microgrid?

Many businesses and communities around the world today don’t have a sustainable, dependable, and cost-effcient supply of energy. Whether connected to an unreliable grid or located in a remote area with no access, it’s diffcult to develop and grow without stable access to electricity.

In many parts of the world, countries are contending with a power crunch. Demand continues to rise, while consumers feel the effect of soaring global energy prices, supply chain disruption, and an increased risk of power outages and interruptions – both due to climate and weather disasters like wildfires, or a mismatch in demand and supply capacity. The infrastructure societies have relied upon for decades is struggling to cope, and oftentimes grid owners and electricity producers push the problem to the end user, which results in high electricity prices.

Reducing the impact of these issues by strengthening the grid is not straightforward. With huge investment required to re-build infrastructure and rising interest rates, securing the funding for grid improvements or large-scale developments is a challenge.

End users require decentralized renewable energy, and stable and predictable costs. This has led stakeholders in both the public and private sectors to consider microgrids as a viable alternative. Offering flexibility and security for those without a reliable grid-based energy supply, and an expensive petroleum back-up such as diesel, microgrids incorporating renewable sources such as solar, wind, and hydro, enable users to gain clean energy independence, by achieving:

• Reduced energy costs
• Increased potential to reach sustainability targets
• Facility to hedge energy prices
• Potential for net-zero carbon emission facilities

Why is LDES an important part of your microgrid?

Use of renewable energy sources will continue to rise and be incorporated into energy systems, including microgrids. With new streams of energy being introduced, it is important to align production and consumption. In long-duration energy storage (LDES), society has the technology that provides balance and meets a growing need for 8-to-18-hour flexibility to close the full day cycle, providing clean power whenever it’s needed, whether as part of a microgrid or larger scope energy system.

LDES can be scaled economically to sustain electricity provision for multiple hours, days, or even weeks. Long-duration solutions complement short-duration storage, fulfilling flexibility needs beyond solutions such as batteries – which aim to provide power for storage with fast response and short-term use – and delivering flexible and reliable clean energy for longer periods of time.

Constructing a renewable microgrid

Another way to look at a renewable microgrid is as a collection of loads powered locally by Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) such as solar or wind, instead of a centralized authority or the national grid.

Each component can be controlled independently, isolating and reducing faults, and adding system resiliency. With the help of energy storage, operators can actively control the microgrid power balance to ensure stability.