Microgrid Knowledge
Elisa Wood
February 17, 2016
Boston has identified dozens of potential microgrid sites that together with other community energy projects could save as much as $1.7 billion, according to a new report issued by the city.
The Boston Community Energy Study maps specific locations for three kinds of microgrids: multipurpose microgrids, energy justice microgrids and emergency microgrids.
Austin Blackmon, Boston’s chief of energy, environment, and open space, said that that the projects represent “an opportunity to fundamentally change the way our energy system works.”
Like many cities in the Northeast, Boston is focusing heavily on improving grid resiliency, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction with microgrids. The report is part of an emerging campaign in Massachusetts toward creating community microgrids. Separately, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center this month issued a request for information seeking microgrid developers, a precursor to a $650,000 microgrid grant offer it intends to release February 29.
The map emerged from a simulation of hourly energy consumption for every city building done by the MIT School of Architecture and Planning’s Sustainable Design Lab. For full article.