Microgrids Help Communities Become More Climate Resistant

In 2013, SDG&E installed the country's first utility-scale microgrid. Since then, SDG&E has built four more microgrids to help lessen the impact of public safety power shutoffs, also known as PSPS, for communities located in wildfire-prone regions of San Diego County.

Microgrids are small grids that operate in parallel or independently of the larger electric grid. They have become an important tool to increase community resiliency, allowing the power to flow to critical facilities such as health clinics, schools, or defense bases during a PSPS.

One of the newest microgrids is in Cameron Corners, a remote community located in a high fire-threat district in eastern San Diego County. The Cameron Corners microgrid features a state-of-the-art 2,000 kWh flow battery system to store clean energy produced by local solar panels and power the CAL FIRE and central telecommunications switching station in the event of an extended outage or emergency.

Groundbreaking Technology

The iron-oxide battery storage is the first of its kind to use ions, salt, and water as electrolytes, making the energy storage non-hazardous, non-flammable, and fully recyclable.

In addition to the battery, the Cameron Corners microgrid features an 875-kW solar array to generate renewable electricity and an advanced controller to integrate distributed energy resources. Once online, the Cameron Corners microgrid will support normal grid operations by generating solar power and dispatching clean energy when needed to support grid stability and reliability. Learn more at sdgenews.com/article/sdge-microgrids-help-communities-become-more-climate-resilient.