Are We Taking Microgrids Seriously — Finally?

It wasn't that long ago that microgrids were commonly thought of in the utility industry as negatives: They were supposedly unsafe. And worse, they were competition. But it looks like more utilities and other industry players see them as critical building blocks that will help ensure the efficiency and reliability of the Smart Grid.

Utilities are gradually dropping their guard and seeing the overall advantages microgrids could bring to the Smart Grid, and many industry giants — think Siemens, Lockheed Martin and a horde of other companies and universities — are researching and developing ways to make them practical and more efficient.

Microgrids have been used for some time as safeguards against power outages and other disruptions in circumstances where reliable, continuous electricity is critical, like hospitals and data centers. Pike Research says those microgrids now account for 772 MW of power generating capacity.

The military also has adopted the technology at some locations and the U.S. industrial sector, which uses about 25% of the country's total electricity output, is seeing advantages in microgrids, too. Microgrids, sometimes called islands, can help industry ensure an uninterrupted source of power for its critical operations. That also means less stress on the overall electric system.

Microgrids could help protect residential customers from outages, as well.

As Jeff St. John points out in his earth2tech article, efforts to integrate effective microgrids are coming from just about everywhere. Intel, MIT, Stanford and Drexel universities, among others, are working on storage technologies, such as ultracapacitors. Lockheed Martin's SEEsuite of grid management applications includes a variety of capabilities, including ways for utilities to better manage microgrids. Siemens has hooked up with Viridity Energy and BPL Global to bring energy management to microgrids.

And American Electric Power (AEP) has worked for several years to connect microgrids to the larger grid as part of DOE's Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions (CERTS), which Pike says is one of the first to connect microgrids to the primary grid.

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