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GI Energy & California Energy Commission Microgrid Opportunity EPIC Grant Funding GFO-17-302 September 2017

September 20, 2017
GI Energy admin

Backed by the California EPIC fund, the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) newest infrastructure solicitation looks to add resiliency and reliability to the grid through the funding of microgrid development. One of many grant opportunities solicited by the state to improve California’s energy systems, the GFO-17-302 grant looks to “demonstrate [a] business case for advanced microgrids[1],” and maximize their potential value to the end consumer.

California Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC)

Established by the California Public Utility Commission, EPIC funds “research and development, technology demonstration and deployment, and market facilitation for clean energy technologies.[2]” The 2015-2017 EPIC Investment Plan specifically funds “clean energy technology projects that promote greater electricity reliability, lower costs, and increased safety.[3]” Thus, the GFO solicitation is aligned to compete for fund projects that push California’s energy agenda forward through highly scalable microgrid projects.

What is a microgrid and what can it do for you?

A microgrid is any form of energy control, management, or redistribution system that is interwoven on top of the existing energy framework to add resiliency and reliability to the current energy infrastructure. In the ever-growing distributed energy market, clean-energy resources, such as rooftop solar, connect to the grid through microgrid interconnections. Combined with anything from battery storage to peak load management software, geothermal technology to combined heat and power systems (CHP), microgrids can be designed in a myriad of ways to maximize the profits of the end consumer through energy cost reduction and savings, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing resiliency.

GFO-17-302 Microgrid Parameters:

 GFO-17-302 aims to fund high distributed energy resource penetration, renewable-based resilient and commercially viable microgrids[4] in three project categories: (1) California Military Bases, Ports, and Native American tribes; (2) California Disadvantaged Communities; (3) Local Communities, Universities, and other projects not covered in groups one and two. A breakdown of the $44.7M in available funding and its match funding requirements are provided below:

 

Project Group

Available funding

Minimum award amount

Maximum award amount

Minimum match funding amount (% of EPIC Funds Requested)

Group 1: Demonstration of Microgrids Located at California Military Bases, Ports, and Native American Tribes.

 

$22,000,000

$2,000,000

$5,000,000

(If the applicant can meet special conditions, the maximum award amount is $7,000,000)

 

20% if the requested EPIC project fund is $5,000,000 or less.

 

25% if the requested EPIC project fund is more than $5,000,000 but not exceeding $7,000,000.4

Group 2: Demonstration of Microgrids Located at California Disadvantaged Communities.

 

$11,700,000

Group 3: Demonstration of Commercially Viable Microgrids Located at Other Locations such as Local Communities, Rural Areas, Industrial Complexes, University and College Campuses, Local School Campuses, etc.

 

 

$11,000,000

The deadline for all applications is October 20, 2017. All projects must be aligned with current CEQA and California state regulations before this deadline or the project risks potential admonishment by the CEC. In order to complete a successful project proposal, all projects must score above 70 points on the scoring chart provided in the back of the solicitation – projects with high distributed energy portfolios that prove to be scalable, and above all successful, will be the most competitive. 

 Examples of potential microgrid projects:  

Grant funding of large microgrid projects is one of a variety of funding opportunities GI Energy uses to help bring clean, renewable energy resources to the current energy grid. In 2015, GIE assisted customers in securing NY PRIZE funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to develop various microgrid projects across the state. In the Village of Croton, for example, GIE’s proposed program added resiliency and reliability to the local energy grid through the development of two microgrid systems at the local middle and high-schools – both backed by combined heat and power (CHP), and various  additional distributed energy resources (DER). Similarly, in the city of White Plains, New York, a community drastically impacted by Hurricanes Irene and Sandy – GIE seccured funding to help protect major hospital and law enforcement buildings through the development of similar CHP backed microgrid systems.

For more information on GI Energy’s work in microgrids or this specific program, please reach out to zshaker@gienergyus.com .

 

[1] GFO-17-302 Grant Funding Opportunity

[2] Electric Program Investment Charge – Docket# 12-EPIC-01

[3] http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/WORD_PDF/FINAL_DECISION/167664.PDF

[4] GFO-17-302 Grant Funding Opportunity