Microgrid Energy Solutions | Duke Energy Renewables

A microgrid is the management and orchestration platform that allows for a collection of local, on-site distributed energy resources to work together as a single system. A microgrid can generate, distribute, store and regulate the flow of electricity on a localized level, and it can often utilize renewable resources like solar or wind.

Microgrids can be grid-tied, grid-independent or capable of both. Some microgrids can be “islanded,” allowing them to break away from the utility’s grid to provide uninterrupted power to facilities during outages or other emergency situations.

Solar and wind installations with energy storage and microgrids can provide a virtually endless supply of carbon-free energy, which is especially valuable to institutions in need of resilient energy sources. Microgrid technology can provide reliable, decentralized electricity to critical buildings such as:

• Businesses and organizations where the cost of downtime is high
• Hospitals
• Emergency and disaster centers
• Schools

With a microgrid solution from Duke Energy Renewables, your organization will have energy security and resilience, while opening up an opportunity to leverage renewable energy as a potential revenue stream.

Microgrids leverage control technology to intelligently manage and optimize on-site generation and storage resources, enabling businesses to automatically make choices that provide economic and energy resilience benefits.

Microgrid energy storage systems enable businesses and organizations to control and use distributed energy resources for significant benefits, such as sustaining a grid outage, using your own power during peak periods when energy rates are high or selling your power to the grid when it’s most advantageous. Microgrids provide significant additional benefits, including:

• Savings in power generation costs, hedging the uncertainty of fuel cost fluctuations
• Scalability that allows the addition of assets and functionality in the future
• Security with automatic fault detections, protection and recovery
• Flexibility to work with a centralized power grid or to be completely independent
• Cleaner energy solutions to remote locations and communities

Duke Energy Renewables' first microgrid was the Boston One facility in Andover, Mass., which included a 50-kW AC rooftop solar, two carport solar systems at 161-kW AC and 143-kW AC and a microgrid controller. This system connected into the local customer's on site equipment to complete the full system. Since then, we have built two additional microgrids in Montgomery County, Md., located at the county’s Public Safety Headquarters and its Montgomery County Correctional Facility. These Montgomery County microgrids were completed in 2018 and will produce more than 11 million kWh of renewable energy per year. We anticipate our next microgrid project, Cocassett, located in Foxboro, Mass., to come online later in 2019. These innovative microgrid platforms have showcased Duke Energy as an industry leader while improving the overall usability of renewable energy across the U.S.