City of Fremont Fire Stations Microgrid Project
City of Fremont fire station microgrids manage local, clean energy resources for greater reliability
The Issue
California needs to make better use of locally available renewable energy to increase resiliency and address climate change impacts, such as increased fires, severe storms, and heatwaves. Critical facilities are especially vulnerable to climate change impacts that disrupt the normal delivery of energy needed for their operation. Microgrids could help increase the resiliency of critical facilities through maximizing use of local renewable energy. Microgrid demonstrations at fire stations will develop a case study to assess their ability to support fire station operations and safely island from the grid.
Project Innovation
This project will design and build low carbon-based microgrids at three fire stations in Fremont, California. Each microgrid consists of a microgrid energy management system, a parking lot canopy photovoltaic system, and a battery energy storage system. The automated microgrid control system will optimally manage local energy resources and loads. The microgrid will provide at least three hours a day of power for critical loads during a utility power outage.
Project Benefits
The fire stations are vulnerable to earthquakes, so having local, renewable generation decreases their dependence on outside electricity sources. This is the first implementation of microgrids for several fire stations in the region which creates a great opportunity for proof of concept to overcome risk and knowledge barriers for adopting high penetration solar PV system. The microgrids will demonstrate their ability to improve energy efficiency by optimizing power generation and loads using advanced, automated microgrid control. Local, renewable photovoltaic generation and energy storage may provide increased energy security during utility power outages and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The microgrids will help reduce grid congestion and increase grid reliability.
Greater Reliability: This project will reduce grid congestion and improve resiliency for the distribution system by using local photovoltaic generation, thus reducing the utility load where substations are near maximum capacity. The fire stations will have greater reliability by using local energy resources during a utility outage, at least three hours a day.
Environmental Benefits: This project will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by using local clean power generation (solar photovoltaics) and energy storage when available. This emissions reduction will help the City of Fremont meet its greenhouse gas emission target and achieve its zero net energy goals for city government buildings.
Energy Security: The fire station microgrids will provide at least three hours a day of electricity to critical loads during utility power outages. The fire stations are vulnerable to earthquakes from the nearby Hayward faults, so having local, renewable generation decreases their dependence on outside electricity sources.