Dive Brief:

Siemens, the Blue Lake Rancheria Native American reservation in Northern California, and Humboldt State University’s Schatz Energy Research Center will construct a microgrid on 100 acres that will power government offices, economic enterprises, and critical Red Cross safety shelter-in-place facilities .

. Once complete, the microgrid will allow the reservation to island itself from local utility Pacific Gas & Electric, Electric Light & Power reports.

The project will be powered by a 0.5 MW solar installation, 950 kWh battery storage system, a biomass fuel cell system and diesel generators.

Dive Insight:

Though it will be the largest solar array in Humboldt County, Siemens' microgrid project is really more focused on using proprietary microgrid management software to predict power needs and control the grid without an operator constantly present.

According to the company, Blue Lake Rancheria will be able to accurately predict the reservation’s power load needs and "dynamically manage and control its distributed power generation through integrated weather and load forecasting." Planned to be in operation next year, the microgrid management software does not require traditional 24-7 monitoring and is being constructed on a utility grade SCADA platform to allow it to handle any microgrid application and ensure interoperability with other load control systems.

“At a time when we’re seeing efforts at the state and federal levels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, this groundbreaking project will use software to manage a complex mix of power generation and storage to bring clean and reliable power to critical sites across Blue Lake Rancheria’s 100-acre reservation,” Pat Wilkinson, head of Siemens Energy Automation, said in a statement.

The microgrid project will allow Blue Lake Rancheria to island itself and avoid power outages, and incumbent utility PG&E said it views the work as a case study on how microgrids can be deployed.

“We will be working closely with the project partners to ensure that all operation modes are done safely, and that the grid is protected as we work to expand these types of emergency power option," said Carl Schoenhofer, Humboldt Division senior manager for PG&E.

Blue Lake Rancheria is one of 16 U.S. communities that has been designated as White House Climate Action Champions. “When the Tribe started working on climate issues, it had a vision of powering the Rancheria with renewable resources. With this project, that vision is largely realized," said Jana Ganion, energy director for the Rancheria.