THE MILITARY IS BUILDING MICROGRIDS

Military Microgrids; Aggregation Platforms to Secure Mission-Critical Loads and Achieve Net Zero Energy, Renewable Energy, and Demand Response Goals
3Q 2011 (Pike Research)

"The United States Department of Defense (DOD) is the single largest consumer of petroleum in the world. U.S. military operations are also the largest consumer of all forms of energy globally. Microgrids can shrink the amount of fossil fuels consumed to create electricity by networking generators as a system to maximize efficiency. Yet they are also a vehicle to help integrate renewable energy resources (such as wind and solar) at the local distribution grid level. Simultaneously, microgrids enable military bases – both stationary and tactical – to sustain operations, no matter what is happening on the larger utility grid or in the theater of war."

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"As awareness about the electrical grid’s vulnerability to terrorist attacks has increased in recent times, the U.S. military has become one of the strongest proponents of microgrids. Microgrids offer the ultimate secure power supply for fixed base military operations. Many army, navy, air force, and other related bases and offices already have vintage microgrids in place. What is new is that these facilities are looking to envelop entire bases with microgrids and integrate distributed energy generation on-site. These resources, when capable of safe islanding from the surrounding grid, offer the ultimate security since fuel never runs out with solar or wind resources. [According to a new report from Pike Research, the capacity of military microgrids will grow at a rate of 739% between 2011 and 2017 and the] opportunity to help develop these microgrids has attracted a number of powerful technology companies including Lockheed Martin, GE, Honeywell, Boeing, and Eaton..."