VermontBiz
Summary
Green Mountain Power (GMP) will break ground this spring on a cutting-edge utility microgrid in Panton, Vermont, pioneering a new way to keep the power on for residents, farms and municipal buildings in the town center during power outages. A microgrid is essentially a smaller grid that can operate independently, disconnecting from the larger grid during outages.
Panton is the perfect place for this innovative work because it leverages GMP’s existing 4.9-megawatt solar facility with utility-scale batteries already up and running in the town.
This project is unique because GMP is believed to be the first utility in the country to island a distribution circuit using inverter-based sources with no reliance on fossil fuel generation backup.
“It is heartbreaking to see the impacts of extreme weather across the country, and it’s a sad but important reminder that we must innovate to build resiliency to protect from extreme, unpredictable weather,” said Mari McClure, GMP’s president and CEO. “That’s why this project is so important. We are building solutions now that allow our cities and towns to stay connected and powered during outages. With microgrids powered by clean energy and paired with batteries to store and deploy that power when it’s needed, we’re keeping the power on for our customers, while also reducing our carbon impact.”
In the event of storm damage or a prolonged grid outage, the Panton microgrid will enable backup power from the batteries and solar panels to flow to a network of customers served by the traditional grid. The concept is called “islanding,” and it creates backup power that can work independently from the larger electric system when needed. In Panton, the tracker solar panels follow the sun, and can stretch the battery backup power for days, if necessary.
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