Green Energy
Thanks to their flexibility, businesses can operate microgrids while connected to the traditional grid or in disconnected “island” mode. This means that when the grid goes down or electricity prices peak, they can use their own microgrid and on-site energy storage to ensure continuity and minimise costs.
What are the primary business benefits of microgrids?
For businesses, the three main benefits of microgrids are sustainability, cost saving, and resilience. First, microgrids help businesses meet clean energy goals, conserve energy, and reduce the environmental impact of their power generation. They enable greener operations by integrating on-site renewables such as wind and solar into the energy mix and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
As regards financial gains, microgrids give organisations more control over energy costs, allowing them to optimise demand and reduce use at peak times, store electricity, and even provide a new revenue stream by selling energy back to the grid. It also minimises the likelihood of power outages, reducing loss of productivity and workdays. In terms of resilience, microgrids improve reliability by keeping power on during grid outages and providing greater energy autonomy. Microgrids’ distributed architecture also makes businesses more resistant to cyberattacks, reducing energy security risks even further.
How can microgrids relieve the pressure on traditional grids? The benefits of microgrids extend beyond businesses. Microgrids and energy storage solutions help relieve pressure on traditional grids while offering businesses energy autonomy. Because a microgrid co-locates electricity generation and consumption, it can generate electricity on-site – unlike the utility grid which generates electricity in a centralised power plant and then distributes it along hundreds of miles of transmission lines.
This decentralised model powered by microgrids offers an innovative solution to grid congestion and increasing load demands. It also allows us transition from one central point of electrical generation to literally thousands of points of electrical generation, effectively transforming businesses and even homes into producers of energy. Microgrids can also be rolled out at a quicker pace than national grid upgrades, and at a fraction of the cost, helping us to move away from fossil fuels, and support new energy use cases. This includes EV charging, energy efficient buildings, smart factories, public transport and smart city infrastructures, besides applications for agriculture and farming. For instance, increased uptake of electric
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vehicles (EVs) means more charging points, more pressure on the grid, and new challenges for existing electrical infrastructure. By using microgrids to power EV charging infrastructures, it means that even a sharp rise in EV usage will not place greater demands on the grid.
What needs to happen to facilitate microgrid adoption?
For this to become a reality, we need to address the need for infrastructure development – not just focus on energy supply. Most existing grids are decades old and were built when energy
Up to now, upgrades have been piecemeal. However, infrastructure must be upgraded to keep pace with renewables, EV charging, and decentralised power solutions. Digital twins can be instrumental in improving existing infrastructure, showing businesses what work is needed to make microgrid integration a success.
Microgrids in action
Microgrids can also be an expensive project, so ensuring good ROI is vital. Working with expert partners who can understand business drivers, analyse capacity, and advise on what assets are
“While the UK and Europe’s aging power grids have little resilience in the face of disruption, instability, or severe weather, this innovative solution is set to shake up the energy industry for good and put power back in businesses hands.”
needs were much simpler. Power distribution needs to evolve to a more autonomous, resilient, flexible, decentralised model to ease grid congestion – and providing extra capacity and storage through microgrids is not possible without these grid upgrades. We need to incentivise industry to become grid-active and monetise their ability to produce energy locally, actively participating in the grid.
Connection to the grid can also be a challenge. The traditional power grid still holds the power to approve or reject microgrid integration and it can be a lengthy process to get projects signed off. What’s more, once a microgrid is up and running, supply can be unpredictable with adverse weather conditions affecting the supply of renewable energy onsite. This can be solved with effective on-site battery storage that can store energy reserves that can be used on demand.
needed helps to maximise microgrid ROI. For example, the sustainable Citycon Lippulaiva shopping centre and urban complex in Finland draws energy from a microgrid installation supported by a suite of integrated digital monitoring tools and intelligent management systems. The site, which also incorporates apartments, a metro station and a bus terminal, is optimised for resilience, sustainability, and lower operating costs. It has achieved a 14% annual reduction in energy costs and will achieve an ROI on its €3 million investment within five years.
A smarter, cleaner and decentralised future
Finally, integrating microgrids into traditional energy infrastructure will be vital to provide the necessary flexibility to manage unpredictability in wind and solar energy – and this is only possible with a move to a smart grid. Smart grids are intelligent, digitised energy networks that optimise power supply from source to consumption via a two-way network of communications, controls, automation. This improved software control through cloud-based platforms enables the integration of AI, ML, and automation, making it possible to forecast energy generation and optimise usage. When we move to a smart grid, these new tools and technologies will make the grid more efficient, reliable, secure, and green.
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