Schneider Electric, a company that specializes in energy management and automation, and Black & Veatch, a provider of sustainable energy solutions to U.S. facilities and infrastructure, have completed a microgrid system they jointly designed and constructed for the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar in San Diego, Calif.
The microgrid is online, fully operational and has been proven to provide 100% capability – even in the event of power outages – across the facility’s more than 100 mission-critical buildings, including its entire flight line.
“This microgrid makes MCAS Miramar one of the most sustainable and energy secure facilities in the Department of Defense and plays a key role in helping California reach its clean energy goals,” says Mark Feasel, president of North American smart grids at Schneider Electric. “We’re excited to partner with Black & Veatch and MCAS that share a similar objective to modernize our energy infrastructure and achieve cleaner energy, new efficiencies and cost savings.”
MCAS Miramar conducted its first full-scale energy resilience readiness exercise to assess the resilience and reliability of the microgrid system and whether it could keep operations up and running at full operational loads. During a full-day simulated power outage, the microgrid system completely disconnected from the grid and all operations were successfully carried out throughout its critical buildings and flight line. Similarly, the microgrid performed as designed twice in the fall of 2020 as it dispatched in support of the local utility San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) when it was struggling to fulfill peak loads. During public safety power shutoffs in California, the operation of the Miramar microgrid allowed SDG&E to maintain electrical service to thousands of homes that would have otherwise been curtailed.
In addition to the buildout of a new diesel and natural gas power plant, this project also includes construction of an energy and water operations center (EWOC). The microgrid is operated directly out of the air station’s EWOC, where plant managers have direct visibility of the integrated microgrid control system, which utilizes Schneider Electric’s SCADA software and a certified network to connect field devices into the system. The applications that form the advanced microgrid control system, such as real-time monitoring and optimization, provide economic generation and load balance while maintaining system stability through load/frequency and voltage/VAR controls.
For more information about Schneider Electric’s microgrid solutions, click here.
