Renewable Energy World | By: Jennifer Runyon | November 13, 2017:
The Microgrid 2017 conference, which ran from November 6-8 in Boston, kicked off with a list of events that point to a desperate need for microgrids, and I bet you’ve heard of them:
- February: 300,000 in Pennsylvania
- March: 800,000 in Michigan
- July: 2,300 in the Outer Banks of North Carolina
- September: Millions in Houston, Texas and large swaths of Florida, the Caribbean, and Puerto Rico
- October: 1.2 million in the Northeast
These are the states and number of people who have been affected by power outages caused by damaged power lines this year – and that is certainly not all of them, just the highlights. These were enormous, costly events, which are increasing in frequency and underscore the need for a better way to deliver electricity to the public.
To date, microgrid uptake is slow.
Soam Goel, Partner at Anbaric Development Partners explained during the conference that micrgorids are on the cusp of the “early adopter” phase but added that adoption has been growing tenfold every year. What’s holding them back? Microgrids require not only new technology and equipment, but utility adoption of them would require a whole new set of regulations and policies, not to mention money…
To read full article – please click here.
