MICROGRIDS The Evolution of the Microgrid Industry projections suggest that microgrids are set for exceptional growth in the coming years. Analysts at RnR Market Research forecast the global microgrid market will grow at a CAGR of 18.72% in terms of revenue and 17.29% in terms of microgrid installed capacity over the period 2014-2019. While North America remains the lead adopter of microgrid technology, Navigant Research studies show that deployment in the Asia Pacific region is on the ‘threshold of exponential growth’ having generated US$84.2 million in microgrid revenue in 2013, with this number to increase to US$814.3 million by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 38.3% annually. It must be noted that while the US and the Asia Pacific region are close competitors in obtaining market share for microgrids, their applications vary to some degree. marked pivotal events that popularised the microgrid, with resiliency as the technology’s key selling point. Whist industry and government still value grid resiliency, renewable energy and energy storage are becoming essential components of microgrids today. One example of this is demonstrated in a partnership between Oncor, Texas’s largest regulated electric delivery business, S&C and Schneider Electric in a “proof of concept” version of what they contend is “one of the most advanced microgrids in North America”. The smart microgrid, now up and running at Oncor’s System Operating Services Facility (SOSF), has been “engineered to maximize newly installed energy storage, renewable generation and improve reliability.” The grid-tied system consists of four interconnected microgrids and nine different distributed generation sources, including two solar PV arrays, a micro turbine, two energy storage units, and four generators. Oncor’s smart microgrid platform enables each of the four component microgrids to operate independently. This enables the utility to identify and respond to failures anywhere across the microgrid system. The platform can self-diagnose, isolate and reconfigure the entire microgrid system in the event of breakdowns or failures in any one of the microgrid platform’s component parts. The microgrid is multi-purposed as a test-bed, integrating energy storage and renewable energy resources with hardware and software to demonstrate how microgrids can enhance reliability for utility customers. In California, San Diego Gas & Electric received a US$5 million grant from the California Energy Commission to extend its experimental microgrid, which is likely to be Hurricane Sandy in the US (2012) and the Fukushima earthquake in Japan (2011) Annual Grid-Tied and Remote Microgrid Capacity by Select County, Asia Pacific: 2013-2023 Source: Navigant Research 44 METERING INTERNATIONAL ISSUE – 2 | 2015