What Electrification of Transportation and Buildings Means to Microgrids: Interview

#News(General) [ via IoTForIndiaGroup ]

Mark Feasel, vice president of smart grid, Schneider Electric, offered insight in a recent interview leading up to Microgrid 2019, where Feasel will be a featured panelist.

A federal study sees potential in the US for an “unprecedented” rise in electricity use from 2016–2050 — 80 TWh/year compared with 50–55 TWh/year over the prior 34 years.

How to get the electricity to the charging stations?
As demand for electricity grows, so does the need for new infrastructure to deliver it — more wires, poles and substations to serve the electric vehicle charging stations that will replace gas stations

Aware of accelerating demand for electricity, oil majors are beginning to diversify into power. Shell, for example, has made recent acquisitions into microgrid and distributed energy companies, among them GI Energy and Sonnen.

Microgrids are particularly well-suited for electric vehicle charging stations far away from population centers, in what Feasel called “last mile places.” As these charging stations replace gasoline stations, vast areas on the US highway will need an infusion of electricity. Utilities could build new transmission lines to deliver the power, but the projects will be expensive. Regulators might find the rate of return questionable, Feasel said.

Ports and airports
But it’s not just cars and trucks that are electrifying; so are planes and ships. And their ports are seeking more reliable energy from cleaner fuels.

Schneider Electric, for example, won a $5.2 million contract to provide a microgrid for the nation’s second busiest port, the Port of Long Beach in the city of Long Beach, California. In addition, Schneider’s recently announced joint venture with The Carlyle Group, AlphaStruxure, is developing multiple microgrids as part of the modernization of JFK Airport in New York.

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