MicroGreen

In the early part of 2009, The Wall Street Journal reported a cyber security risk to the national grid system. The current devastation of crops in India is in large part due to the unreliability of the grid system to power irrigation systems. The relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina relied on electricity from off-shore U.S. military vessels. All of these scenarios could be mitigated by a “micro-grid” distributed power generation solution, providing homes, offices, military bases, and even soldier operations with a reliable supply of electricity powered in part by renewable energy.

ESN has assembled a world-class team to commercialize a cost effective micro-grid solution for the defense and commercial markets.

The first MicroGreen project has been funded in part by a $1.5 million US DOE stimulus grant received through the State of Indiana; this funding, along with private capital from project partners, allowed the system to be deployed successfully in April 2011 at Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane in Southern Indiana.

ESN MicroGrid Project partners include: Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Cummins, Delphi Corporation, I-Power Energy Systems, Emerson Technologies, SolarNet, Duke Energy, and Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane.

Objectives

Collaborative project among technology, utility, military partners to develop mobile renewable microgrid system to provide scalable power for military and commercial markets.

Benefits

The “micro-grid” distributed power generation solution, providing homes, offices, military bases, and even soldier operations with a reliable supply of electricity powered in part by renewable energy, which mitigates issues with cyber security risks to the national grid systems and military relief efforts of natural disasters.

Impact

Built first-of-its-kind renewable energy mobile microgrid for forward operating bases. $1.5 million in DOE grant funding for prototype, which was tested and validated at NSWC Crane. The 1MW system includes power generation from biomass and solar, energy storage for bidirectional electrical distribution.

Project Partners

Media and Press