Benefits of Microgrid Integration
By Austin Arnett, PE, Eric Putnam, PE, AND Michael Dempsey, PE
Fundamentally, microgrids provide energy reliability for critical operations. Military installations and hospitals, for example, don’t have the option of shutting down if the power goes out. Therefore, for decades they have mitigated this with on-site backup generation capability. However, continuously improving technologies and unit cost reductions are enabling facility owners to install new or evolve existing backup power assets into integrated microgrids that provide more than just backup power.