Posts Tagged ‘energy security’

A solicitation from the Army’s Energy Initiatives Task Force to build a 15-megawatt solar plant at Fort Detrick, Md., generated about 100 inquiries and pushed the deadline to respond to the request for proposals back one month to March 28. “This is the first RFP project that’s put out by the Energy Initiatives Task Force,” Army spokesman Dave Foster told the Frederick News Post. “They want to be sure they get it right.”

The Pentagon’s primary sustainability goals for fiscal 2013 will be to reduce its use of facility energy and to improve the energy security of its installations, according to the department’s fiscal 2012 Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan. To meet those goals, DOD budgeted $1.1 billion for energy conservation and efficiency in fiscal 2013, and will direct almost all of those funds to retrofit existing buildings. One of the chief tools for accomplishing those projects is the Energy Conservation Investment Program, which “DOD is reshaping to support projects that will have a major impact on the services’ energy efficiency and/or security, but that may not be justified under their internal funding strategies …

With plans to issue solicitations for three renewable energy projects before the end of the year, after recently releasing requests for proposals for two others, the Army believes it has taken a significant step toward its goal to produce 1 gigawatt of renewable energy at its installations by 2025. At the same time, the Energy Initiatives Task Force — the Army’s one-stop office for implementing large-scale projects at its installations — and the Army Corps of Engineers are evaluating industry responses to the multi-award task order contract RFP issued last year …

The commonwealth of Massachusetts will fund a program to conduct comprehensive energy audits at each of its six military installations as part of a first-of-its-kind initiative to identify opportunities for renewable energy development, officials announced Thursday. The effort is intended to help the Defense Department achieve two of its key priorities — reducing base operating costs and boosting energy security — and builds on the state’s leadership in promoting energy efficiency and clean energy …

The capacity of microgrids at DOD installations is estimated to reach 55 megawatts by 2018, according to a recent report from Pike Research. While the Marine Corps has shown the fastest initial growth spurt in microgrid capacity, because of its sheer size the Army is expected to experience the largest increase in annual capacity over time. More than 40 bases either have operating microgrids or are planning and demonstrating microgrid technologies …

The Defense Department plans to lease up to 500 special electric vehicles at six different installations later this year to test their ability to export power to the local grid. The $20 million project, which will be run by the Air Force, will use idle, charged vehicles to resupply power grids at times of peak demand as a way to lend stability to stressed electrical grids while offsetting the vehicles’ cost …

The Pentagon’s push to protect its installations from disruptions to the commercial grid has spawned a revolution in how the military looks at energy. The drive to reach “energy security” has changed how the military services consider acquiring new sources of energy and how they finance new supplies, and also defined new roles for host communities and utilities …

The Defense Department would be required to issue guidance for financing renewable energy projects under a provision on the conference report for the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill approved Tuesday. A separate provision requires energy security to be included as a component of DOD energy savings contracts for buildings, facilities, installations, vehicles, and equipment …

While the Defense Department has fallen short of its goals to acquire an increasing share of its electricity from renewable sources and trim energy consumption at its installations, the use of virtual storage in conjunction with microgrids will aid the military’s initiative for installations to operate independently of the commercial grid, according to a post on the GreenBiz.com blog. Microgrids combine on-site clean energy generation, energy efficiency and smart controls to allow greater efficiency and reliability …

A new demonstration program at Fort Carson, Colo., will consider whether an installation’s fleet of electric vehicles can support the operation of a microgrid by storing excess energy. Kansas City, Mo.-based Burns and McDonnell Engineering Co. will build a microgrid out of existing electrical infrastructure at the Army post, integrating a 2-megawatt photovoltaic array, diesel generator sets and electric vehicles to provide a self-contained, energy-sustainable capability during electrical grid disruptions …