Distributed Generation and Microgrids
US is now paying 43% more to build and maintain local power grids than they did back in 2002. At the same time, the grid is becoming less reliable, with blackouts now taking 20% longer to fix. Furthermore, hurricane Sandy and other events have made people realize that a large connected grid is vulnerable to local disturbances causing widespread outages.
As a result, electricity users (military bases, university campuses, hospitals, factories, data centers, and home owners) are looking into microgrids as a way of avoiding extended blackouts.
So, bwtech@UMBC will be hosting a meeting of people interested in distributed generation and microgrids. We will discuss how the confluence of cheap natural gas, the use of renewable energy generation, improved combustion turbine generators, and the need for a more resilient grid are coming together in “microgrids.”
The 40+ participants expected at this event will be cleantech companies looking for new applications of their renewable energy solutions, state governments, local universities, plus a number of others who want to learn about the changing landscape of the energy market.
Time and place:
• Wednesday, June 19, 2013, from 1:30 pm
• Main seminar room at UMBC’s energy incubator (CETI); i.e., UMBC’s Tech Center at South Campus.
Meeting objectives:
• Discuss the key attributes of microgrids.
• Discuss how distributed renewable solutions contribute to facilitating implementation of microgrids.
• Discuss impacts on transmission and distribution.
• To what extent is the implementation of microgrids technical, financial, best practices, or organizational?
Participants:
• Clean energy entrepreneurs interested in the opportunities related to microgrids.
• People interested in understanding the structural changes taking place in the electric power market.
Issues:
• Can microgrids change the landscape of the electric power industry? Some speculate that there will be a renaissance similar to the telecommunications industry which went from a monopoly to open architecture resulting in the Internet.
• How will the electric utilities respond?
• What changes are needed in State laws to facilitate implementation of microgrids?
• What can we learn from other states; Connecticut seems to be the forerunner in microgrids?
• What are the opportunities for Maryland’s entrepreneurs?
Agenda:
1:30 pm - Doors open and networking
2:00 pm - Meeting objectives by Bjorn Frogner
2:15 pm - Panel:
• Guy Warner, Pareto Energy
The future of microgrids based on experience with dozens of projects.
• Doug Hinricks, MEA
Integration of PVs, EVs, and batteries to provide ancillary services to the grid and integration into a
microgrid.
• DERP and Smart Power Systems
Overview of their microgrid activities in Connecticut and Maryland.
• One other TBD
3:40 pm - Q&A discussion
4:15 pm - Networking
Hosts:
• Maryland Clean Energy Technology Incubator (CETI) @ bwtech @ UMBC.
• Maryland Clean Energy Center (MCEC).
Sponsors:
• Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development (DBED).
• Whiteford Taylor Preston (WTP).
• SB & Company.
RSVP:
• Please RSVP to bjorn.frogner@umbc.edu
• This meeting is free for all.
Contact:
Bjorn Frogner, PhD
Entrepreneur in Residence
Maryland Clean Energy Technology
Incubator (CETI) at bwtech@UMBC
1450 South Rolling Road
Catonsville, MD 21227
Tel: 443-534-7671