Boeing and Siemens on Monday said the companies will team up to develop and market smart grid technologies for the U.S. Department of Defense.

The DOD is the U.S. government's largest energy consumer.

Under the arrangement, the companies will create collaboration centers to focus on secure microgrids to power military installations. The aim is to combine Boeing's defense knowhow with Siemens' energy management technologies.

The joint microgrid management effort will revolve around implementing energy efficiency tools to analyze and track usage, add smart energy controls to manage use and integrate renewable energy sources and storage.

Meanwhile, the microgrid effort will be designed to adhere to the DoD's security and construction requirements.

The DoD has been on the leading edge of alternative energy use and has been experimenting with everything from hydrogen to solar to biomass to power its equipment.

In March, the U.S. Army unveiled a smart charging micro grid prototype. The micro grid consisted of 25 kilowatt solar power array, 200 kilowatt hours of batter storage and four plug-in electric vehicles. The system could provide backup power to three buildings.

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com