Happiness is a military microgrid

Fort Bliss moving on premise, self-sufficiency = security

Phil Carson | Aug 15, 2011

When it comes to a sense of urgency, there's nothing like the armed services of the United States. As previously documented in this space, the U.S. Department of Defense "gets it" when it comes to energy efficiency and self-sufficiency: they add up to energy independence and that means security. (See "Military Microgrids: a Journey.")

While civilian populations continue to debate the status quo versus implementing standards for wise use of energy, the military is simply going about its business pursuing security through energy efficiency and self-sufficiency.

That explains Fort Bliss' new "Request for Information" (RFI) on commercial partnerships that could result in a Fort Bliss microgrid with a net zero energy profile. Fort Bliss sprawls over 1,700 square miles of the westernmost tip of Texas and southeastern New Mexico, a U.S. Army installation second in size to nearby White Sands Missile Range. I'd guess that there's plenty of solar and wind resources at that location.

The military was not first out of the gate, of course. But it has since caught up with its civilian counterparts - led by the state of California - which early on established and have continued to tweak practical approaches to similar goals.

Why a column on military microgrids? They are the partners of public, "smarter," modernized grids that can play a symbiotic role with centralized power systems and microgrids are essentially scale models of how large-scale smart grids can and should operate. (See "Central and Distributed Power: Symbiotic?" and "Smart Grid and the Military: Meet the First Adopter.") And military grids are a great example of what is possible when a sense of urgency is brought to bear.

The military's rationale in the Fort Bliss RFI basically articulates very similar drivers for many public programs in California, particularly the California Energy Commission's Renewable Energy Secure Communities (RESCO) efforts.

The qualities being sought for Fort Bliss aren't much different from the communities involved in the RESCO program, a comparison pointed out yesterday to me by Byron Washom, director of strategic energy alternatives (aka a microgrid) at the University of California San Diego. (We wrote about UCSD's highly successful microgrid in "Big Picture Thinking: lab to market!" and the imaginatively titled "Big Picture Thinking, Part II."

Check out two statements in the RFI. First: "The Army energy security mission is to make energy a consideration for all Army activities to reduce demand, increase efficiency, seek alternative sources and create a culture of energy accountability while sustaining or enhancing operational capabilities."

And this: "Fort Bliss has positioned itself to lead the Army in these aspects and continues to lead with aggressive pursuit of energy security. In its role as an Army energy leader, Fort Bliss has established the goal of becoming a Net Zero Energy Installation (NZEI) by 2015. To do this, Fort Bliss must aggressively conserve energy and also generate as much renewable energy as it consumes, measured over the course of a year."

Further: "The legislated energy mandates and changes to the cultural initiatives support Army-wide goals of improving its resiliency and endurance as a military force. These include:

• Surety: preventing loss of access to power and fuel resources;
• Supply: accessing alternative and renewable energy sources;
• Sustainability: promoting support for the Army's mission, its community and the environment;
• Sufficiency: providing adequate power for critical missions; and
• Survivability: ensuring resilience in energy systems.

The Army proposes to give vendors the opportunity to build on Army land and the Army in turn will sign a power purchase agreement for the energy supplied.

In its general outline, of course, this sounds a lot like FortZED, which is the Zero Energy District in Fort Collins, Colo., now a college town with no role in national defense. See both "Smart grid's grass roots," and "Local smart grid with global implications."

To me, the military effort reflects the dual drivers of security and cost. Fort Bliss figures it will save money and increase security. Funny, you don't hear the same naysaying and questioning of motives in the military's efforts to achieve energy efficiency, maximize renewable energy and integrate systems to achieve energy security as you do when, say, a town such as Boulder, Colo., looks to do the same thing.

The Fort Bliss's of the world establish that all this can be done. Whether it shall be is simply a question of self-determination. And in that area, civilian America is lagging way behind.

http://www.intelligentutility.com/article/11/08/happiness-military-microgrid