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www.CTGreenGuide.com FALL 2015 • CONNECTICUT GREEN GUIDE 13 Staying Connected Microgrids key to the utility of the future By Alan Rubacha I n October 2012, Superstorm Sandy tore through the east- ern seaboard, knocking out power to millions of homes and businesses. Sections of Wesleyan University's cam- pus in Middletown lost power for up to a week. Immediately after, we started looking at hardening our infrastructure and creating more emergency power on campus. Thankfully, Wesleyan did not go totally dark during the storm because we were able to operate in "island mode." The university's central power plant on William Street houses — among its steam boilers and chillers — a cogeneration system that uses natural gas to simultane- ously generate electricity, heat and steam for the campus. This cogeneration system was able to keep the majority of campus running. It was clear, however, that we needed more power to keep other critical parts of campus operat- ing, and we needed to add more of our critical facilities to our microgrid — especially the Freeman Athletic Center, a designated Federal Emergency Management Agency dis- tribution center for first responders during emergencies. In 2011, we had already started a campus plan to look at future power needs. We realized that the 100-year storms we had previously planned for were becoming five-year storms. The economics pointed toward installing another combined heat and power (CHP) gas reciprocat- ing engine, which we finished building at the Freeman Athletic Center in 2014. We were fortunate to take part in a Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) pilot program for microgrids in 2013, which distributed $18 million to nine projects around the state. Wesleyan was the first microgrid project completed, using the $694,000 state grant to connect the new engine at Freeman to the campus' electrical grid. Thanks to the new generator package, which de- livers 4,700 megawatt hours annually, the Freeman Athletic Center is now able to fulfill its role as a FEMA distribution center. Wesleyan produces about 90 percent of its own power, and a new 3.5-acre, ground-mounted photovoltaic solar array is in the works on Long Lane to produce the remainder of our energy needs. The goal is not to become independent from the utility. Instead, we want to work in cooperation with the utility to strengthen the electrical infrastructure of New England while ensuring reliable, continuing power to our campus. Wesleyan has designed its infrastructure to normally run mains parallel, where it imports a small amount of power from the utility. We will only operate independent from the utility in the event of a prolonged utility outage. Colleges and universities, as well as hospitals and industrial complexes, are perfect environments for mi- crogrids because they typically have a network of buildings concentrated in one area, which can be easily connected into a mini electrical grid. Frequently these institutions have much of the supporting infrastructure already in place. Microgrids are still in their infancy, but they're grow - ing quickly. In 50 years, our electrical distribution will be much more decentralized with small power plants and microgrids powering each neighborhood. Advocate Corner Alan Rubacha is Wesleyan University's director of physical plant.