Monterey Herald
Summary
Fort Hunter Liggett in south Monterey County recently commemorated their $21.6 million electrical microgrid, which will enable it to reach its goal of energy resiliency to critical facilities by 2022. It is the first army installation capable of generating and distributing electricity off-grid for at least 14 days throughout the entire cantonment.
A microgrid is a self-contained electrical distribution system capable of operating in the absence of the utility grid. New solar arrays will be added to the existing ones at the Equipment Concentration Site and photovoltaics will be included for generation of electricity. Power will be stored in batteries so the electricity generated during the day can be distributed at night. Power will be delivered by medium voltage lines that were buried underground in the cantonment several years ago in anticipation of this resiliency project.
Once up and running, the system will generate more electricity than the Fort can consume over a 12-month period.
“The Army and DoD calls that Net Zero, so we will have achieved Net Zero,” Resource Efficiency Manager for Fort Hunter Liggett, Jarrod Ross said in a press release. “During the day when the sun’s out, we will generate more electricity than we use, so we will export it onto the electrical grid.”
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