Distributed Power Systems for Sustainable Energy

The U.S. Department of Defense DOD is the largest single user of energy in the United States U.S. 2, representing 0.8 of the total U.S. energy consumed and 78 of the energy consumed by the Federal government. Approximately 25 of DOD energy use is consumed by its buildings and facilities. The DOD currently has 316,238 buildings across 5429 sites translating to a monetary value of 450B 3. The Office of the Secretary of Defense OSD has published an energy policy to ensure the DOD infrastructure is secure, safe, reliable and efficient 4. The realization of this OSD energy policy, within the DOD, is being guided by 1 the Energy Policy Act of 2005, 2 Executive Order EO 13423, and 3 the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, to ensure a 30 energy reduction by 2015. The Policy Act of 2005, as well as EO 13423, has set a minimum contribution of renewable energy from DOD s installations of 5 by fiscal year FY2012 and no less than 7.5 beginning FY2013 5. Under the Distributed Power Systems for Sustainable Energy project described in this report, United Technologies Research Center UTRC in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin Madison UWM, has demonstrated the key technologies that will enable scalable deployment of distributed power sources and energy storage. These key technologies have been demonstrated in such a way that the distributed power sources would appear as a single stable entity to the electrical grid. The technologies demonstrated as part of this project, when adopted, will provide the infrastructure and controls required for efficient and reliable use of renewable energy sources. These microgrids will provide the largest opportunity for reducing external grid utilization, reducing the environmental impact associated with the use of non-renewable sources, and is an important step toward the required security of energy supply at DOD installations.