Amped for Microgrid
A system of autonomous power-generating stations at key locations in East Hampton could keep important buildings powered even if widespread power outages occurred while also saving money and using primarily clean technology, according to experts from Hitachi, who have conducted a feasibility study for the so-called microgrid system.
The stations would use renewable energy technology — solar generation and battery storage systems — along with natural gas.
The “nodes,” as each individual system is being called, would be sited at critical facilities including the Town Hall campus, the airport, police headquarters, and the East Hampton Village Emergency Services Building. Several locations in Montauk, among them the firehouse, the Montauk Playhouse, the train station, and an East Hampton Housing Authority complex, have also been targeted.
By generating 80 to 85 percent of the power used at those sites, the nodes would not only save money but would reduce carbon emissions in East Hampton by 1,900 tons a year — the equivalent of taking 1,450 cars off the road — a consultant said during a town board presentation on Tuesday.
While savings on energy costs would be realized immediately, 20 years out, after capital costs for the systems are repaid, “the savings are massive,” the consultant, Brian Levite of Hitachi Microgrids, said.
The systems would be tied in to the power grid, but if the grid went down, they would be able to continue operating and providing power to the various buildings.
Although the town vowed in 2013 to move away from natural gas in order reach a goal of meeting its electricity needs with solely renewable energy by 2020, the process discussed Tuesday, called “combined heat and power,” would recapture and use heat generated by the system, operating in a more energy-efficient manner than traditional natural gas systems.
That element could be replaced with a renewable energy component in the future, the consultants said.
With energy demands increasing across the South Fork, PSEG Long Island has cited a need to create more power-generating stations and install more transmission lines here.
A six-mile line from an East Hampton Village substation to another in Amagansett has been put in and is being readied; the installation of the high-voltage line and tall utility poles through residential neighborhoods caused public outrage and lawsuits.
“The microgrid can actually offset their need to do this,” John Botos, a town Natural Resources Department staffer coordinating energy efficiency efforts, told the town board on Tuesday.
The feasibility study for the microgrid system discussed on Tuesday was undertaken and paid for through the state’s New York Prize program, designed to promote energy resiliency in communities across the state.
Eighty-three municipalities, including East Hampton, received $100,000 grants to study the feasibility of microgrid energy systems that would provide power even in the face of storms, grid outages, and the like. The town hired a team of consultants from Hitachi, Johnson Controls, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to do the study.
Fewer communities will qualify for $1 million grants for the second stage of the process, aimed at developing engineering designs and cost estimates, but East Hampton is hoping to be in the mix of about a dozen to be selected. Communities that complete the process and qualify would receive state funding for some portion of the cost of installing their new energy systems. The state has $25 million to be distributed to the final-stage winners.
Consultants put the cost of the microgrid node system outlined at the town board session at approximately $7 million, though grants and incentives could bring down the installation cost. At least $73,000 in savings on energy costs would likely be realized each year and about $1 million worth of power would be generated. Operating costs would be about $540,000 a year, the consultants said.
The system could be built under various scenarios — town ownership, third-party ownership by a company such as Hitachi, under an agreement with the town, a public-private partnership, or ownership by a utility such as PSEG Long Island.
Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell called for a more detailed economic analysis, which the Hitachi representatives said could be done after the town provides more data.
In a separate effort in response to a state “reforming energy vision” process, PSEG Long Island has issued a call for proposals to meet increased South Fork energy needs. Some three dozen have reportedly been submitted. They include a similar microgrid system, with two stations proposed for East Hampton and one for Southampton, as well as offshore wind turbines. The proposals are to be vetted later this spring.