Florida is the most hurricane-prone state in the US, vulnerable to an average $15.4 billion in storm damages annually. So it’s perplexing that state government hasn’t made at least as much fanfare about microgrids as places like California and New Jersey.
But even if its government isn’t leading the way, microgrids are cropping up in the state.
It’s generally more difficult for private developers to build sophisticated microgrids in states like Florida that did not undergo industry restructuring. Utilities in these states have more monopoly sway. So, not surprisingly, those microgrids that are built, often are done so in a partnership with vertically integrated utilities.
In Florida, both Florida Power & Light (FPL) and Tampa Electric are partnering on microgrid projects.
FPL, which describes itself as the largest energy company in the US as measured by retail electricity produced and sold, was featured in not one, but two microgrid announcements this week. We wrote about the first one in a story here, which describes a microgrid control lab at the University of Central Florida that the utility is helping to bring about.
Air Force microgrid
The utility’s second piece of news came from the US Air Force which together with Gulf Light Power, a utility recently acquired by FPL, signed an “energy assurance lease” for a solar microgrid at Tyndall Air Force Base, 12 miles east of Panama City.
The 10-year agreement is a pilot program for Gulf to demonstrate microgrid capabilities. The utility will own, operate and maintain the microgrid. Like many energy-as-a-service style contracts, it removes risk and cost from the host, in this case the Air Force.
The microgrid will include a 150-kW photovoltaic solar array and a 450-kW, 2.5-hour battery energy storage system.
Like most microgrids, the system won’t just run during power outages. Under normal conditions it will serve the larger grid. More specifically, power from the microgrid will provide power for the utility’s regular retail customers, including Tyndall AFB. During grid outages, the microgrid will island from the grid and the Air Force will have first right of refusal to use its power to keep three of its mission-critical facilities up and running.
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