Arlington, Va. –The Department of Defense (DoD) has selected the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) to develop a scalable planning tool to support the deployment of microgrids at military bases.
“America’s electric co-ops and the more than 90 military facilities that they serve are evolving together,” said NRECA CEO Jim Matheson. “By developing and field-testing software that can reduce the cost of microgrids, this project marks a significant step towards improved resilience at military installations across the nation.”
The three-year project will lay the foundation for developing microgrids that can enhance reliability and resilience at military bases. Through the project, NRECA will partner with three co-ops that hold utility privatization (UP) contracts—long-term contracts to own and operate the distribution grid on a military installation. Together, the partners will develop a planning framework that will reduce costs and optimize the microgrid planning process.
Funding for this $1.9 million project comes from the DoD Environmental Security Technology Certification Program. NRECA will use its Open Modeling Framework to automate the microgrid modeling process and create a standardized planning framework that can be implemented at military installations across the country.
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national trade association representing more than 900 local electric cooperatives. From growing suburbs to remote farming communities, electric co-ops serve as engines of economic development for 42 million Americans across 56 percent of the nation’s landscape. As local businesses built by the consumers they serve, electric cooperatives have meaningful ties to rural America and invest $12 billion annually in their communities.