MICROGRIDS

WHAT 30 YEARS OF MICROGRID EXPERIENCE TEACHES US ABOUT THE FUTURE OF ENERGY

Today, Hitachi Energy powers more than 200 energy storage and microgrid projects around the world, with 700MW of storage currently under management, explains Maxine Ghavi, SVP, Head of Grid Edge Solutions. Widespread renewable energy adoption has changed the way we think about modern microgrid applications. New applications are driving new use cases for microgrids, from remote regions with extreme conditions who are not connected to the main grid, to urban stadiums with critical power reliability needs. According to IEA, 13% of the world (940 million people) still do not have access to reliable sources of electricity, and access is especially limited in remote communities and regions with extreme environmental conditions. They also pay significantly more for their electricity, in some cases ten times as much for equivalent electricity from larger grids. Climate change has further increased deployment of renewable energy as communities and corporations have issued new goals for reducing emissions, while combating wildfires and stronger weather events. As the generation mix on the mainland utilities changes, they will need to transform how they deliver power. Many remote utilities are further along in this transformation. Renewables are moving into large-scale grids in ways that are very similar to remote communities like Marble Bar did 20 years ago. As microgrid costs continue to decline they too will play an increasing role in changing how and where we source our electricity.

The Future

Today’s energy transformation is happening at an unprecedented pace, driving demand for flexibility in overall infrastructure. There is a strong push across the energy network to become more energy independent, moving beyond a centralised grid to a more distributed one. Our experience in microgrids shapes our vision of the future grid. One that is modular, decentralised and smaller, especially in emerging areas like commercial and industrial footprints where we are witnessing in real-time how rapidly infrastructure is evolving due to changing consumer demographic shifts and needs. At Hitachi Energy, we enable grid resilience against extreme events, remove infrastructure limitations as an inhibitor to electric power, and enable transmission and distribution to evolve into the 21st century. Microgrids provide new solutions to our customers’ evolving needs. The microgrid concept has also fundamentally changed the construct of how we think about our power system, driving new, more efficient utility operations powered by greater renewables. IEA’s World Energy Outlook for 2020 underscores the value of this approach, as “the pace of change in the electricity sector puts an additional premium on robust grids and other sources of flexibility… storage plays an increasingly vital role in ensuring the flexible operation of power systems.” As a prime example, ElectraNet, a distribution utility in Australia, is able to operate a virtual synchronous machine to strengthen their massive network. This project includes over 90 MW of installed renewables - both wind and rooftop solar - to improve reliability for the over 25,000 residents in the Yorke Peninsula. This also happens to build on our early work with Western Power. Called the ESCRI-SA Dalrymple Project, a battery energy storage system (BESS) combined with smart controls drastically reduced outages from 8 hours down to 30 minutes in its first six months of operations. The solution also improved network reliability to minimise renewable curtailment, maximise reliability, and reduce operating costs. Revenues of the project will offset the entire capital cost within two years of its initiation. Thirty years of innovation and leadership in microgrids have provided electricity to communities that once looked at reliable power as far-off dream. And we’re just getting started. Our aim for the next 30 years is to bring electricity to the remaining 940 million people still without access across the globe and enabling a stronger, smarter and greener grid for all. Hitachi Energy is driving the evolution of the grid itself. We will continue to share stories on how the innovation and learning from our incredible history is now shaping its future.

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