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The Rise in Distributed Energy Resources and What's in Store for Utilities

Oct. 31, 2018
We are heading down a path that encourages microgrid systems and DERs to join sustainability, intelligence and flexibility

Today’s power grid isn’t what it used to be, as more companies in the industrial and commercial settings want to produce their own power to help control costs and environmental impacts. The rise in distributed energy resources allows users to supply their own power, especially in remote locations where they may not have been able to reach the traditional power grid.

Moving off grid to a microgrid can take many forms. One approach that creates long-term viability for a microgrid is to use a diverse mix of energy generating sources. Today’s renewable energy sources like solar and wind provide intermittent power, requiring backup generation via fossil fuels to ensure seamless and consistent power at all times. Over the next 30-40 years however, we will see these fossil fuels being phased out, as other renewable energy resources like biogas and the use and deployment of batteries help companies transition to 100 percent clean energy.

Load Balancing

Load balancing uses various techniques to create a nest egg of power during low demand periods for later release when power demand increases. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) will play a critical role in allowing us to leverage load balancing strategies and realize in advance when more power may be required. While some usage spikes are more predictable, such as during storms or after a typical working day, technologies like ML and AI allow us to predict the less obvious and manage energy resources more efficiently.  

Software with intelligent controls and algorithms can take advantage of ML and AI integration, allowing us to integrate with renewable energy resources and bring cogeneration into the next wave of sustainable infrastructure.

Dispatchable Distributed Energy Resources

The investment gap in energy infrastructure to keep pace with growing energy demand is estimated to be $177 billion. To help bridge this gap, we will rely on a new wave of dispatchable distributed energy resources like cogen and batteries  for optimizing energy usage and providing more reliable power. At the power plant level, machine learning and AI techniques can help one or more DERs to adapt to its environment by predicting renewable energy generation patterns, offering a sustainable infrastructure with firm power for the energy grid of the future.

As the incumbents, the current utility companies must either be willing to adopt a more cooperative approach, shepherding in a new era of sustainability. What some may call an energy crisis, I consider it to be an "identity" crisis for utilities. This isn’t a small issue as the relationship between utilities, energy consumers, and energy technology providers continues to evolve.

Energy Independence and Deriving Energy Solely from 100% Renewables

These are not mutually exclusive categories. As more companies move toward energy independence, it is possible to incorporate sustainable elements into today’s grid, while also future-proofing for what’s to come. Generating energy from renewable resources certainly helps a company move toward energy independence. The intermittent nature of renewable energy means there has to be access to a firm power source.

It’s also important to consider that companies who've achieved energy independence can return energy to the grid.

The Most Critical Components

The most critical developments won’t come in the form of hardware or wiring. AI and machine learning will be the most critical components of a sustainable energy infrastructure, especially as these technologies can anticipate (and remediate) issues across the grid and individual microgrids. I believe there will be a series of microgrids in the near term, which will have fallback and failsafe options that rely on other grids.  

Predictions

We are heading down a path that encourages microgrid systems and DERs to join sustainability, intelligence and flexibility. I predict they will play a significant role in bringing sustainable infrastructure together with firm power to create a well-balanced grid of the future. Pushing the envelope with today’s technologies to transform tomorrow’s business models will make way for game-changing shifts in the energy story market in the years to come.

Brian Curtis is CEO and Co-Founder of Concentric Power and has more than 20 years of engineering, finance and strategic management experience in energy and high-growth technology industries. Brian founded Concentric Power in 2011 to create sustainable infrastructure and energy independence for companies in critical industries, including food and pharmaceuticals.

About the Author

Brian Curtis | CEO and Co-Founder

CEO and founder Brian Curtis has over 20 years of engineering, finance and strategic management experience in energy and high-growth technology industries. Brian founded Concentric Power in 2011 to create sustainable infrastructure and energy independence for companies in critical industries, including food and pharmaceuticals.

Raised in Salinas, Calif., Brian has a deep understanding of how agricultural innovations have evolved and must continue with sustainable, energy-efficient solutions. At Concentric Power, Brian leads company strategy, technology and product roadmaps, and project development.

Brian has spent his career in and out of power plants and processing facilities for the energy and food industries. Previously, Brian spent five years in China where he built an ammonia processing plant and acted as plant general manager to launch the business and product line. He was also a venture partner and entrepreneur-in-residence with two local Chinese venture capital firms where he oversaw their clean energy investment strategies, contributing to $1.35 billion raised. When returning to the U.S., Brian joined the U.S. Department of Energy where he worked within the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Group, along with several clean energy startups. Brian started his career as a power plant design engineer at the power plant on campus at the University of California, Los Angeles and further honed his mechanical systems design skills as a refinery engineer for Chevron. Concentric Power is Brian’s second start-up; the first was a software technology company that was acquired.

Brian currently serves on the board of directors for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Entrepreneurship Competition, where he was the lead organizer as an MBA student. The “MIT $100K” is a year long competition and the largest student-led organization at MIT.

Brian holds a B.S. in mechanic engineering from UCLA, with an emphasis in electromechanical systems design and control, and an MBA from MIT. Brian lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two kids.

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