Town Probes Clean Energy Microgrid
In a move that could further East Hampton Town’s commitment to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, a study is under way on the feasibility of creating a local energy network that would generate power here for critical facilities and have the ability to separate from the electrical grid in the event of power outages.
The feasibility study, which will define the benefits of such a network, or microgrid, and offer an estimate of how much it would cost to establish, is a New York State Energy Research and Development Authority initiative designed to promote municipal clean energy and build resiliency into the larger electric grid. It was funded by a $100,000 NYSERDA grant.
The study is the first of a three-stage competition. It is to be completed next month, after which the town would have to decide whether to apply for additional funding. NYSERDA’s NY-Prize selection committee would evaluate applications after each phase. It is authorized to approve up to $1 million for specific designs in the second stage, and, in the third stage, up to $7 million each for the construction of approximately five community microgrids across the state.
A microgrid’s power can be generated by sources including solar, wind, and combined heat and generators, which produce electricity and thermal energy in a single system and are more efficient than conventional generation systems. The study is aimed at identifying sites at which generating installations, or nodes, would be established.
“It’s a new concept, compared to what we’ve had for the last 100-plus years,” Gordian Raacke, director of Renewable Energy Long Island and a member of the town’s energy sustainability advisory committee, said. “We have to await the outcome of the study in February, but I am cautiously optimistic that we will be able to move forward.”
The “wish list” for the nodes includes eight or nine sites, said John Sousa-Botos of the town’s Natural Resources Department, though that could change. “Multiple technologies working together in a complementary way” is how he described the microgrid, with each node capable of disengaging from the others and operating independently.
The Natural Resources Department and energy sustainability committee are working with the contractors on the study. Critical facilities that could both host and be powered by a microgrid include the East Hampton Airport, the Emergency Services Building, East Hampton High School, the Town Hall campus, the East Hampton Healthcare building, the Montauk firehouse, and the Montauk Playhouse Community Center.
Hitachi Consulting is the lead contractor for the study. Johnson Controls and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory also comprise a consortium of firms that will evaluate microgrid options.
Mr. Raacke pointed to Princeton University’s microgrid, an on-campus network in West Windsor Township, N.J., that is maintained by PSEG, the New Jersey utility whose Long Island division manages the electrical grid here, saying it is both reliable and cost effective. While neighboring towns were without power for days after Hurricane Sandy in 2012, PSEG restored power long enough for the university to restart its natural-gas turbine, which powered the campus and enabled it to provide emergency services and serve as a charging station for cellular phones and other equipment.
“I think this makes economic sense in East Hampton, just as it did at Princeton University and other places,” Mr. Raacke said. “The hurdle, of course, is where do we get the money?” The second and third phases of the project, he said, would require a 25-percent cost share. “At some point, the town will have to either raise the money to do this, or we might be able to find private investors.”
“Our community is becoming a launch pad,” Mr. Sousa-Botos said, “in New York State through the prize competition, but globally as well. We’re very excited to be working on this.”