Wineries, cities, ports and other entities anxious to skip utility interconnection delays, go green and save money are turning to microgrids for charging electric vehicles (EV).
These EV adopters are often facing two-year interconnection delays, government regulations requiring them to lower their carbon footprint and the potential for high utility demand charges.
Interconnection challenges slow EV charging projects
In a recent report from Xendee and Endeavor Business Media, about 75% of survey respondents said that electric grid limitations are a significant roadblock to the rollout of EV charging infrastructure for commercial electric vehicles. Project costs, permitting, construction and supply chain challenges were also named as roadblocks. Nearly 80% of respondents listed microgrids fueled by distributed energy resources as the top game-changing technology to stimulate the transition from internal combustion engines to EVs and electric fleets.
Recent projects back up the report’s conclusions, highlighting the interconnection challenges facing EV enthusiasts and possible microgrid solutions.
For example, Prologis Mobility, which provides charging-as-a-service, and Performance Team, a Maersk company that operates over 140 EVs across the U.S., are deploying a microgrid near the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach that will charge up to 96 electric trucks simultaneously.
EVs to meet California’s truck requirements
Facing a two-year utility interconnection delay and California’s requirements to stop selling diesel trucks and transition to electric drayage trucks – which generally transport containers and bulk freight – by 2035 and electric heavy-duty trucks by 2045, the ports are investing in charging infrastructure to help fuel their 20,000 trucks.
The microgrid includes 2.75 MW of fuel-flexible, hydrogen-ready linear generators paired with 18 MWh of batteries that can provide up to 9 MW of charging capacity.
Henrik Holland, global head of mobility for Prologis, said in an email that the project uses Mainspring linear generators, which allow for the use of hydrogen.
Natural gas will be used in the short term, he said. And the project will connect to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) once it gains interconnection.
Hydrogen could power the microgrid in the future
The project isn’t using hydrogen right now because the infrastructure in California isn’t ready to deliver enough hydrogen or provide distribution.
“We are actively investigating the supply of hydrogen and when it becomes more accessible, we will consider its integration for this and future projects,” Holland said. Once the project gains utility interconnection, the microgrid will serve as backup if the grid goes down, he said. Initially, the microgrid won’t provide grid services, but Prologis may collaborate with the LADWP in the future to provide those services.
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Holland declined to reveal the total cost of the microgrid. It was financed mostly by Prologis, with some grant money provided by the California Energy Commission’s EnergIIZE program and the LADWP, he said.
For this project, Prologis Mobility will use a charging-as-a-service model, which involves no upfront costs to the customer and includes design and construction, energy procurement, hardware, operations monitoring, proprietary software solutions and maintenance.
A microgrid to power a California city’s electric truck
A smaller microgrid project from Paired Power for the city of Campbell, California’s Public Works Service Center takes a different approach to avoiding interconnection delays and charging the service center’s first EV – a Ford F-150 Lightning Pro.