Rob Cuzner was quoted in a story in the Shepherd Express about managing the booming electrical demand that is occurring with the rising number of data centers. Cuzner’s lab has built an experimental microgrid at their USR building location.
He explained how microgrids have something to offer as governments look for solutions. A microgrid provides power for a limited area, such as a hospital campus or military base. It integrates different kinds of energy with the necessary electrical storage, serving as backup power for its location.
Microgrids can add to the capacity of the U.S. electrical grid and help address the way irregular way that data centers pull electricity from the grid, which he described as pulsing rather than steady. “Grids are not really built to handle that kind of power profile,” he said.
Microgrids can help smooth out those patterns, while they reduce the coal or natural gas sources of power, cutting carbon emissions. Read the whole story.