The Weather Channel
this morning reports on a “remarkable” storm “of potentially historic
proportions,” as Sandy barrels north and the low out west prepares to
join the party. It may be another ‘perfect storm,’ But we just had two
historic storms last year in the northeast, with damage exceeding a
billion dollars.
Such storms wreak havoc on the electric grid, which is why a workshop I attended in Hartford, CT on “Micro-Grids in New England” seems particularly relevant. Micro-grids are independent controllable and defined systems including electric generating and consuming assets that can be connected to or disconnected from the larger power grid, and they are becoming more popular. When the grid goes down, you can detach and supply power to a smaller subset of users. From the conference, a few facts became clear:
1) The technology around micro-grids continues to develop, and real world examples are already being deployed.
2) Synergistic thinking is crucial to improving the economics of micro-grids.
3) The value of the micro-grid is very much in the eye of the beholder, but there are significant benefits. Some of these are hard to value.
4) Very little progress will be made in this space without the collaboration and cooperation of the utility.
Read more: http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterdetwiler/2012/10/26/with-all-eyes-on-hurricane-sandy-a-good-time-to-evaluate-micro-grids/
Such storms wreak havoc on the electric grid, which is why a workshop I attended in Hartford, CT on “Micro-Grids in New England” seems particularly relevant. Micro-grids are independent controllable and defined systems including electric generating and consuming assets that can be connected to or disconnected from the larger power grid, and they are becoming more popular. When the grid goes down, you can detach and supply power to a smaller subset of users. From the conference, a few facts became clear:
1) The technology around micro-grids continues to develop, and real world examples are already being deployed.
2) Synergistic thinking is crucial to improving the economics of micro-grids.
3) The value of the micro-grid is very much in the eye of the beholder, but there are significant benefits. Some of these are hard to value.
4) Very little progress will be made in this space without the collaboration and cooperation of the utility.
Read more: http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterdetwiler/2012/10/26/with-all-eyes-on-hurricane-sandy-a-good-time-to-evaluate-micro-grids/
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