By Greentech Lead America: ZBB Energy, the developer
of intelligent, renewable energy power platforms, will provide a ZBB EnerSystem
integrated power management system for a microgrid installation at the Joint
Base Pearl Harbor Hickam (JBPHH) U.S. Military base in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The ZBB EnerSystem will intelligently manage inputs of
various energy sources on the base that include an existing photovoltaic solar power
system and new wind turbine system. The ZBB EnerSystem will include a ZBB
EnerSection power and energy control center combined with a ZBB EnerStore next
generation proprietary flow battery system.
The deployment is part of the first phase of a three-phase
installation. The $30 million project is known as Smart Power Infrastructure
Demonstration for Energy Reliability and Security or SPIDERS. SPIDERS is based
on a Joint Command Technology Development (JCTD) project between Department of
Energy, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security.
SPIDERS aims to reduce the risks associated with
unreliable power by establishing the standards and technology for smarter, more
secure and robust microgrids that incorporate renewable energy sources while
decreasing vulnerability to cyber-attacks. The SPIDERS program furthers the
DoD’s mission to increase its use of renewable energy.
The microgrid interfaces with the ZBB EnerSection will
provide cyber security, reliability, quality control and load leveling during
normal mode when interacting with the commercial grid or when isolated. In
either mode, the ZBB EnerSection allows and intelligently optimizes the use of
renewables, reducing dependence on diesel-generated power. The system is
expected to increase power reliability, reduce energy costs and shrink the
military’s carbon bootprint.
The three phases of the SPIDERS JCTD project includes
three increasingly more extensive microgrid
installations that follow a “crawl, walk, run” approach. This
strategy lends itself to streamlining the processes for further government
agency and civilian microgrid adoption.
At the 1st phase of the SPIDER project ZBB will
install a circuit-level microgrid at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam (aka
Hickam Air Force Base) in Hawaii.
The 2nd phase installation includes a larger
microgrid that incorporates a large photovoltaic
system and vehicle-to-grid storage at Fort Carson in Colorado and at
the 3rd phase entire base incorporated into the microgrid, with more
extensive renewable energy and storage implemented at Camp Smith Energy Island
in Hawaii.
The baseline power of the three initial SPIDERS
microgrids is expected to range from 1.5 to 10 megawatts, depending on the
site. After the final installation, the program calls for further DoD
implementations as well as dissemination to other federal agencies and the
commercial sector.
“Working closely with the DoD and the other
participants involved in SPIDERS, we have been granted a unique opportunity to
enhance energy security, advance the use of renewable energy, and reduce the
environmental impact at this major military base and eventually others,”
said Timothy Martin, vice president of sales and marketing at ZBB Energy.
Recently, ZBB announced it was awarded a contract by a
solar integrator to provide a ZBB EnerSystem to the U.S. Military for use in a
unique application designed to operate in both grid-connected and transportable
microgrid scenarios.