Giuseppe Pellegrini met Ashley Taylor of Lo3 Energy in Brooklyn.
Brooklyn Microgrid (BMG) is building a peer-to-peer energy market for locally generated renewable energy that is driven by the very community it serves. Brooklyn Microgrid is currently in the process of developing a community microgrid in the Gowanus and Park Slope neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Community microgrids present a new approach to grid operations that serves to achieve a sustainable, secure, and cost-effective energy system by providing long-term, locally generated power security within a community.
Microgrids have the ability to operate independently from the larger electric grid during extreme weather events or other emergencies, providing the backbone for resilient, sustainable and efficient energy production.Brooklyn Microgrid is currently developing a community microgrid in the Gowanus and Park Slope neighborhoods of Brooklyn. But the Brooklyn Microgrid aims to do more than merely enabling small-scale trading of environmentally-friendly electricity. In view of the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the project plans to install battery storage units within the grid in order to keep the lights on at least temporarily during the next storm-related emergency. If possible, local electricity demand will eventually be adapted to solar energy generation. For example, electric cars could be recharged when the sun is shining and the battery storage units need no additional boost.
“In New York, the Brooklyn microgrid is conceived to work with the conventional grid, which is in the midst of a reboot under Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s directives to make it more flexible, resilient and economically efficient while reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. That effort, known as Reforming the Energy Vision, or REV, includes encouraging the development of microgrids and more active community participation.” (New York Times)