GREENSKIES ENLARGES WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY'S MICROGRID

By Carl Weinschenk, Energy Manager Today

September 1, 2015

Solar power will be added to an existing natural gas microgrid at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, under a contract between the university and Greenskies Renewable Energy LLC.

The microgrid will produce 1.2 million kW hours of electricity annually. Several campus buildings not power by the existing microgrid will be added, according to the university. Construction will begin next spring and will be completed by September 1, 2016.

Under the agreement, Greenskies will design, develop, finance, own and maintain the facility for free for 20 years. Wesleyan will buy the electricity produced at a reduced rate, according to Greenskies.

There is a constant flow of microgrid announcements. Last week, for instance, a partnership was announced between Siemens, Blue Lake Rancheria — a Native American reservation in Northern California — and Humboldt State University’s Schatz Energy Research Center to power a number of buildings on a 100-acre site. Also last week, Booz Allen Hamilton, Siemens and Power Analytics said they will study the technical and economic feasibility of microgrid projects in 16 cities across New York.