Added Value of Reliability to a Microgrid: Simulations of Three California Buildings

Publication Type

Conference Paper

Date Published

07/2009

Authors

Abstract

The Distributed Energy Resources Customer Adoption Model is used to estimate the value an Oakland nursing home, a Riverside high school, and a Sunnyvale data center would need to put on higher electricity service reliability for them to adopt a Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions Microgrid (CM) based on economics alone. A fraction of each building's load is deemed critical based on its mission, and the added cost of CM capability to meet it added to on-site generation options. The three sites are analyzed with various resources available as microgrid components. Results show that the value placed on higher reliability often does not have to be significant for CM to appear attractive, about 25 $/kW•a and up, but the carbon footprint consequences are mixed because storage is often used to shift cheaper off-peak electricity to use during afternoon hours in competition with the solar sources.

Journal

Cigré Integration of Wide-Scale Renewable Resources into the Power Delivery System, July 29-31, 2009

Year of Publication

2009

Organization

Research Areas

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