Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management and automation, announced partnership with Faith Technologies to deploy an advanced microgrid at the new environmental center at the Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve.
The fully islandable microgrid will provide power to the non-profit nature preserve’s 18,000 square-foot environmental center and help meet its resiliency and sustainability goals.
The environmental center will deploy Schneider Electric Energy Control Center and EcoStruxure Microgrid Advisor to manage and optimize the integration and use of distributed energy resources (DER) powering its microgrid.
Schneider Electric EcoStruxure Microgrid Advisor manages all its DER while offering remote monitoring, real-time energy price management, demand response requests, peak shaving, CO2 tracking and storm hardening services.
“With its combination of innovative hardware and software solutions, the Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve will have one of the most advanced microgrids in the world, advancing the Preserve’s ability to manage its production and consumption of renewable energy and control energy spend,” said Philip Barton, director of Schneider Electric’s Microgrid Competency Center.
The integration of the Schneider Electric Energy Control Center enhances the microgrid’s control, simplifying the adoption of solar, cogeneration and energy storage, and enabling management of DER through its intelligent power control center, the company said.
Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Microgrid Advisor, a cloud-based, demand-side energy management software platform, simplifies the integration of DER and allows facility managers and microgrid operators to collect, forecast and automatically optimize the operation of DER using predictive algorithms.
“This project represents a forward-looking use case of energy systems that aim to establish a more resilient, efficient, economic and cleaner grid,” said Mike Jansen, CEO of Faith Technologies. “The advanced control features integrated with Bubolz Nature Preserve’s microgrid will benefit the facility and local community, supporting the development of a more intelligent and sustainable energy system.”
Located in Appleton, Wisconsin, the Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve has a mission to teach environmental ethics through education, recreation and conservation. The environmental center microgrid will serve as a demonstration center to test and measure the impact of microgrid technologies in a real-world environment and support the Bubolz Nature Preserve mission. It is expected to be completed by December 2017.