US-based microgrid design company XENDEE Corporation and Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL) Net-Zero Microgrid Programme have announced support for a zero-carbon microgrid in Puerto Rico.
The community microgrid is led by Puerto Rican power cooperative Cooperativa Hidroeléctrica de la Montaña, and funded by the Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity Microgrid Programme.
“Increasingly dangerous climate events have been devastating to Puerto Rico’s local economy and energy infrastructure. By using this new resilient energy system, Puerto Rico’s mountain regions can offer greater stability for businesses and the community while also mitigating the consequences of the next major climate event including regional economic paralysis and the mass exodus of residents during recovery periods,” said C. P. Smith, Executive Director of the Cooperativa Hidroeléctrica de La Montaña.
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In order to support the project, Idaho National Laboratory will identify and validate the input data for the microgrid, while XENDEE’s microgrid design platform will model the energy system and create a series of investment strategies based on cost, emissions and resiliency goals.
These strategies will guide Microrred de la Montaña (Microgrid of the Mountain) in cutting energy costs, by incorporating a variety of solar PV cells, batteries, and existing hydroelectric technologies.
Using this model, the cooperative can meet the needs of the local community and sell power back to the Puerto Rican power grid for revenue.
Michael Stadler, CTO and co-founder of XENDEE, said: “This has provided the cooperative with a series of reliable, financially viable investment strategies that can be used to easily compare major design decisions like making hydroelectric upgrades or distributing technologies across different communities. The XENDEE platform also includes integrated power flow simulation, enabling our team to properly place and size technologies in each of the investment strategies and verify the technologies and distribution system can operate under peak usage conditions.”
“Microrred de la Montaña is not only the first intermunicipal microgrid in Puerto Rico, but also an exemplar Net-zero carbon microgrid for communities on the front lines of climate change,” said Timothy McJunkin, Technical Director of the NZM Program at INL. “This project stands out as a unique opportunity to showcase the integration of multiple non-greenhouse emitting energy sources to increase reliability and resilience and show how NZMs can be the source of economic development and prosperity for Puerto Rico and other disadvantaged communities across the U.S.”
