63 substations for building grid resilience
The California Public Utilities Commission approved Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s comprehensive and cost-effective microgrid proposal.
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USA, California: The California Public Utilities Commission approved Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s comprehensive and cost-effective microgrid proposal that includes 63 substations.
By connecting the 63 substations in a series of microgrods, PG&E intends to reduce the number of customers affected by public safety power shutoff events and mitigate the impacts to those who remain affected.
The substations are soon to be ready to connect temporary generators as need arises during PSPS events, subject to operational logistics and generator availability. In addition to temporary generation, in certain instances, PG&E will leverage existing local, permanent generation sources to power safe-to-energise substations and customers.
PG&E’s Community Wildfire Safety Program includes short-, medium-, and long-term plans to make its electric system safer. These plans include installing new grid technology, hardening the electric system, and performing enhanced vegetation management, all with the goal of making PSPS events smaller in size, shorter in length, and smarter for customers. Microgrids are one tool in these efforts.
For 2020, the PG&E’s microgrid solutions focus primarily on building grid resilience and keeping the power on for customers in communities that have a high likelihood of experiencing a future PSPS event. To that end, the PG&E has reserved more than 450 MW of temporary mobile generation to be deployed.
Source: T&D World