Microgrids can strengthen energy grid resilience and help enable faster system response and recovery following a power outage. As EEI’s member companies continue to make significant investments and to implement projects to enhance grid resilience, many are forming local partnerships to build and test microgrids.

In June, Georgia Power, PowerSecure, and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) celebrated the opening of a 1.4-megawatt microgrid demonstration project in Midtown Atlanta’s Tech Square. The multi-block district boasts the highest density of startups, corporate innovators, academic researchers, and students in the Southeast.

PowerSecure, a Southern Company subsidiary and the nation’s leading distributed energy infrastructure provider, implemented the latest in microgrid technology for this project. PowerSecure’s team of experts installed, managed, and serviced 2+gigawatts of microgrid capacity over the past 20 years, as well as more than $800 million of energy efficiency upgrades.

The installation includes fuel cells, battery storage, diesel generators and a natural gas generator, and it is adaptive to new and additional distributed energy resources. It is designed to also accommodate microturbines, solar panels, and electric vehicle chargers in the future.

The microgrid, which was approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission in 2019, is being used to evaluate how a microgrid can effectively integrate into and operate as part of the overall grid. Additionally, it will serve as a living laboratory for Georgia Tech professors and students to gather data on controllers, cybersecurity devices, and energy economics.

"The Tech Square Microgrid is a proven innovative project that will help us better understand microgrids to help service our customers. It brings energy storage and data front and center for research,” said Chris Womack, chairman, president, and CEO of Georgia Power. “The Microgrid's distributed energy resources are vital to enhancing grid resiliency and bringing sustainable energy solutions to Georgia's communities.”

"Georgia Tech is one of the nation's leading research institutions and has been an integral partner in allowing their students and teachers to learn how these systems will interact not only with our grid, but also with the CODA building on the Georgia Tech campus. It's by collectively working together through projects like this that we will build a brighter energy future for our state," Womack added.

All microgrid components will be placed on a platform and obscured from view with seven-foot-high fencing and gate access along Williams Street. The fencing will have a mural designed and commissioned by Atlanta-based artist Georgia F. Baker III to be finished later this year.

"Georgia Tech is committed to addressing the most consequential challenges of our time," said Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera. "That involves advancing science and technology, developing leaders who can create and deploy new solutions, and leading by example with our own practices. This microgrid is a great illustration of the latter. In our partnership with Georgia Power and the Georgia Public Service Commission, we will be developing and adopting some of the most advanced, efficient, and responsible energy solutions available in the hope we can serve as an example for others."

Tags : Game Changers, The Energy Grid, All