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    1. Distributed Energy

    Columbus, Ohio Microgrid to provide Energy backup for Water Infrastructure

    Feb. 10, 2023
    The new microgrid installed at the Tussing Water Booster Station features 100 kW of onsite solar generation, 440 kWh of battery energy storage, as well as Eaton’s intelligent microgrid controls to offset energy costs and ensure drinking water supply
    Image credit Eaton
    Ohio Microgrid 63e66f0462ecb

    Public utility AEP Ohio has selected Eaton, an intelligent power management company, to improve the resilience and sustainability of critical water infrastructure at the Tussing Water Booster Station in the city of Columbus.

    According to Eaton, the project will introduce the city’s first renewable energy microgrid and extend its capability to provide safe and clean water during extended electric grid outages.

    The new microgrid installed at the Tussing Water Booster Station features 100 kW of onsite solar generation, 440 kWh of battery energy storage, as well as Eaton’s intelligent microgrid controls to offset energy costs and make sure residents receive safe drinking water.

    The microgrid is fully commissioned and expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2023, Eaton notes. The system will allow the city’s water tower to continue operating in “island” mode during a grid outage and support sustainable demand response and grid balance through intelligent voltage regulation.

    The project is partially funded through AEP Ohio’s Smart City program and is in line with Columbus’ Climate Action Plan, which aims to reduce emissions by 45-percent and establish five microgrid pilot projects by 2030 to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

    According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as much as 40 percent of drinking water systems’ operating costs can be attributed to energy.

    “This microgrid project is an important precedent that demonstrates how climate-friendly technologies can be applied to modernize critical infrastructure while improving people’s lives, the environment and the bottom line,” said Igor Stamenkovic, Vice President and General Manager for Eaton’s Electrical Engineering Services & Systems division.

    “Climate change is already impacting quality of life in central Ohio, and the challenges stemming from its very existence will only continue to grow more frequent and more common in the years ahead,” said Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther. “We have an obligation to strengthen the resiliency of our infrastructure and to meet these challenges head on. I am proud of the ways in which the city of Columbus is leading by example and embracing innovative solutions to ensure an equitable and prosperous future for every resident.” 

    About the Author

    EnergyTech Staff

    Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

    Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    He can be reached at [email protected]. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

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