San Diego Gas & Electric Tuesday unveiled four new microgrids in the communities of Clairemont, Tierrasanta, Paradise and Boulevard, intended to address surging energy demands in the region. Contact online >>
San Diego Gas & Electric Tuesday unveiled four new microgrids in the communities of Clairemont, Tierrasanta, Paradise and Boulevard, intended to address surging energy demands in the region.
The microgrids will operate independently or in tandem with the larger regional grid and offer a combined storage capacity of about 39 megawatts and 180 megawatt-hours, officials said. The sites are designed to help deal with high energy demand, including on hot summer days and peak evening hours.
“Storage and microgrids are key to helping build a more resilient electric grid that can extend the availability of cleaner energy and help our communities better manage through grid emergencies like the extreme heat experienced in recent summers,” SDG&E CEO Caroline Winn said. “These microgrids will actively dispatch clean energy to the grid when needed and help improve energy resiliency for critical facilities like fire stations, schools and cooling centers in San Diego.”
The microgrids, which can be remotely operated, provide real-time monitoring, faster response to grid events, more efficient energy storage management, and enhanced grid resilience, according to a statement from the San Diego-based utility company.
“For communities like mine that often experience outages during power emergencies, we welcome infrastructure that will help keep our lights on and our refrigerators running during difficult times,” San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Nora Vargas said. “Enhancing our power grid is an important first step in making sure all communities have access to basic resources during a crisis, especially for our local schools, fire stations and medical centers.”
In December 2021, the California Public Utilities Commission granted the green light to SDG&E to move forward with the four sites. According to the utility, these projects were set into motion in response to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s State Emergency Proclamation in the summer of 2021.
These facilities will be connected to the state energy market, allowing the California Independent System Operator to dispatch resources as needed to “help maintain a balanced supply and demand of energy throughout the state.”
Micro is quickly becoming macro.
San Diego Gas & Electric has unveiled four new microgrids that will go online within the next 90 days, boosting the number in its service territory to eight — and the utility has plans to build at least three more in the next two years.
Growing in popularity in California, microgrids essentially act as mini-electric grids that can supply power to a defined area while operating independently of the conventional electric power system for hours at a time during emergencies, such as power outages or when the state’s electric grid is under stress.
“Safety-wise, this is probably the most-state-of-the-art as it comes right now,” said Don Balfour, SDG&E’s project manager for clean technology. “You have gas detection, fire detection, smoke detection. All of that’s embedded inside now.”
The four microgrids offer combined storage capacity of 39 megawatts and 180 megawatt-hours. SDG&E officials say that’s enough to supply power to about 26,000 homes for four or more hours when needed.
The 10-megawatt Paradise Microgrid has the ability to power the Southeast Division Police Department, Fire Stations 51 and 32, one middle school and three elementary schools in the area. The energy storage system is connected to SDG&E’s Paradise Substation next door.
Adjacent to SDG&E’s Elliott Substation, the 10-megawatt microgrid in Tierrasanta has capacity to power Fire Station 39, the area’s medical center, the Tierrasanta Public Library and Cool Zone during heat waves, one middle school, two elementary schools and Canyon Hills High School.
The Clairemont microgrid can serve Fire Station 36, the Balboa Branch Library and Cool Zone. two elementary schools, a middle school and Madison High School with 9 megawatts of capacity. The microgrid is connected to SDG&E’s Clairemont Substation near Derrick Drive.
Linked to an SDG&E substation, the 10-megawatt microgrid in Boulevard serves as many as nine facilities that include three fire stations, three tribal offices and health care facilities, the Boulevard Border Patrol Station and the town’s post office.
“These collaborations ensure that our communities have the necessary resources and infrastructure needed as we strive to meet our climate goals,” said Miguel Romero, SDG&E vice president of energy innovation.
With those renewable energy targets in mind, legislation out of Sacramento and mandates from the California Public Utilities Commission have ordered investor-owned utilities such as SDG&E to add microgrids and energy storage facilities to their power portfolios.
Solar production during the day is abundant but virtually disappears after the sun sets, which drains the power system of valuable megawatts of clean energy — especially on hot days when consumers use their air conditioners into the early evening hours.
As per California Public Utilities Commission rules, the costs of the four new microgrid projects will be kept confidential for at least three years. But SDG&E officials say constructing the facilities next to existing substations helps defray costs that get passed onto ratepayers.
“We just came through very severe storms,” Romero said of the recent dumping of rainfall that flooded some areas of San Diego, “and from an outage standpoint, this will be able to protect you from that. But ultimately, this asset is providing further benefits to the region and to the state of California in meeting its renewable supply needs.”
SDG&E has four other microgrid projects that are already up and running — an 8-megawatt facility in Borrego Springs, 2 megawatts at the Miguel Substation in Bonita, 1 megawatt in Carmel Valley and a one-half megawatt facility in Ramona.
Besides utilities, community choice energy programs such as San Diego Community Power and the Clean Energy Alliance are looking into microgrid projects. Municipalities are getting into the act, too.
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