MICROGRIDS

What is a Microgrid?

A microgrid is a group of interconnected loads and Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) that acts as a single controllable entity.  The purpose of a microgrid is to deliver one or more energy services, also known as a value stacking.  Microgrids have 3 defining characteristics:

LOCAL

A microgrid serves a discrete geographic footprint, such as a college campus, hospital complex, business center or neighborhood.

INTELLIGENT

A Microgrid Control System orchestrates multiple DERs to meet the energy goals of its customers: lower costs, cleaner energy or reliable power.

INDEPENDENT

A microgrid can disconnect from the grid and operate independently. This islanding capability allows it to supply power to customers when the grid experiences an outage.

What Is A Microgrid Control System?

A microgrid control system orchestrates multiple DERs to meet the energy goals of its customers.

The foundation of a microgrid control system is the secure communications network which connects DERs, meters, controllers and the cloud platform. A microgrid control system also includes:

  • Power automation and switchgear to manage the distribution of electricity

  • Cloud portal for remote access for customers, partners and operators

  • Cloud APIs to access energy markets, VPP, DERMS, billing and fleet management applications

  • Metering on all DERs and circuits so that the system can monitor status

  • Controllers to run algorithms that determine the operating states of the DERs and other equipment

  • Gateways to securely connect the DERs, equipment & cloud platform

Watch this video to see a microgrid control system in action:

Key Capabilities of a Microgrid Control System

Managing the value stack of energy services in a microgrid is complex and requires a more advanced control system as you add more services to the value stack, each with competing objectives and constraints.

Poor management can result in penalties, added energy costs and lost revenue opportunities that can wipe out all the benefits and business case of the microgrid itself.

These are the key capabilities of a microgrid control system:

CONTROL

The system should be able to provide some or all of these operating modes:

  • Islanding

  • Export to energy & ancillary markets

  • Maximize self-consumption

  • Participate in demand response programs

  • Manage EV charging

  • Export limiting

  • Volt/Var compensation

MONITORING

The system should be able to monitor & alarm on the status of:

  • Solar inverters & trackers

  • Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)

  • EV Chargers

  • Generators

  • All electrical distribution assets (transformers, breakers, UPSs, etc.)

  • Communications network health

  • All loads (motors, lighting, HVAC, servers, etc.)

  • Weather, price & other external variables

  • Computed KPIs & operating modes related to the above

ANALYSIS & REPORTING

The system should be able to report & analyze:

  • Power quality

  • Import & export trends

  • Billing, including PPA billing, bill verification, cost allocation and tenant billing

  • Actual vs. contract vs. predicted performance

  • Compliance with regulations, standards & corporate policies

  • ROI tracking

  • Asset & network health

Managing microgrids over the lifecycle

From project definition, design and deployment to operating and maintaining your microgrid, lifecycle services will ensure you get the most from your investment.

PROJECT SERVICES

  • Secure IoT Network Design

  • Control Scheme Design

  • DER and Electrical Device Integrations

  • API Integrations

  • Site Startup & Commissioning

SUPPORT SERVICES

  • Priority Support

  • On-Call Support

  • Microgrid Fleet Management

  • Microgrid Managed Services

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

  • OT Cybersecurity

  • Site Operation Analysis

  • Executive Reporting

  • Power Quality Studies

  • System Enhancements

  • Training

Solutions

EnergyX® Cloud Platform

  • Use Dashboards, Live Diagrams, & Trends to track microgrid performance.

    Alarm management features include: alarm flood control, prioritizing, grouping, filtering and drill down.

  • EnergyX provides an extensive set of analytics and reporting including: load loss detection, disturbance direction detection, alarm correlation by timeline, breaker and transformer health, billing, emission compliance and more.

  • Integrate any business platform including BMS, SCADA, billing platforms, demand response platforms and energy market bidding platforms.

    Connect to external data such as weather, pricing, production units, and occupancy.

  • For customers with multiple microgrids across a region or around the world, EnergyX brings them together into a single platform.

  • For connecting a site to EnergyX cloud, allowing secure bi-directional communications

  • For measuring electrical parameters from DERs and across the distribution network. Can also measure water, air, gas and steam.

  • For intelligent control of DERs, capable of operating in cloud-connected or disconnected mode.

EnergyX® Edge Kits

  • AZZO works with you to asses, define, design, engineer, procure and commission your microgrid control system.

  • We’ll ensure you get the most from your microgrid over the long term with services to expand, enhance and extend your microgrid control system.

  • With a support contract from AZZO, you are assured that your microgrid control system will always be operating as specified.

EnergyX® Lifecycle Services

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