How a microgrid saved Pittsburgh International Airport $1 million
By Elisa Wood, Microgrid Knowledge
One year ago, Pittsburgh International Airport became the first airport in the nation to get all of its power from a solar and natural gas microgrid. Today, it’s got 1 million extra dollars to show for it.
In an interview with Microgrid Knowledge last week,?Tom Woodrow, the airport’s senior vice president for engineering and intelligent infrastructure, explained how the airport achieved the savings.
?“I don’t know if it was luck or skill or both,”?Woodrow said.
It began when the Pennsylvania airport decided to install five natural gas generators and?9,360?virtually net-metered?solar panels to create a 23-MW microgrid, which it accomplished in July 2021...Continue reading on Microgrid Knowledge.
Imagine if all schools across the country had their parking lots covered with solar panels, good shade for cars , keep pavement cooler and provide electricity .. We don't need to take up huge tracts of vacant lands for solar farms , just use the existing space with panels, and it would give underlying pavement a chance to absorb less heat . Adding nat gas , abundant, would be also a great way to supplement. Microgrids , would also reduce the line loss which no one talks about.
Founder Advisor @ Brightmerge | @Schwab Advisors and OFIL. New Business Development, Alternative Energy, Smart Grids, Microgrids, B2B SaaS, HPC, Digital Twins, Data Platforms, Product, Go to Market, AI Agents, Analytics.
2 年Thank you for sharing this insight. I think the key message for many potential microgrid owners is that they should take a proactive strategy. Gary Player, one of the world’s greatest golfers lived by the mantra “the more I practice, the luckier I get”.
Electric power economics and policy. US energy policy. Senior Fellow, Energy at the R Street Institute. Formerly Texas Tech University, Potomac Economics.
2 年As per the article, the $1 million in savings arose from locking in the price of natural gas for 5 years back in 2019. The manager admits some luck involved. The article relays good news for the airport, but offers no real lessons to others beyond maybe they can get lucky in the gas market too some day.
Corporate/Crisis Communicator & Advisor | US Marine Corps Veteran | Animal Welfare Advocate | Energy and Grid Transition Writer | Camp Lejeune Poisoned Water Survivor
2 年They work. And there's financing available. In most cases we just need industry leaders and state/local govenment officials to get onboard. Even though we called this plant NRG built at the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro a CHP+ plant, is was really a microgrid. Read: https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2010/09/10-0901-1816/