Wales & West Utilities (WWU) has kicked off a project which is set to explore the role of renewable micro-grids in green energy production.
With larger buildings such as universities, college campuses, schools, leisure centres and hospitality sites considered hard-to-decarbonise because of their size and higher energy demands, microgrids pose a potential solution. WWU will work to identify the locations that could be best suited for microgrid solutions, understand the likely technology needs, as well as exploring potential operational use-cases. These microgrids would produce green hydrogen, which could be stored and used later.
Microgrid sites with hydrogen production and storage capability were highlighted as having real potential to support the UK’s energy transition, offering resilience and flexibility in facilities with high variability in energy demand. This includes the likes of schools or facilities with a high reliance on uninterrupted energy supplies, such as hospitals.
Head of Net Zero and Sustainability at WWU, Matthew Hindle further set out how the microgrids “could also provide flexibility benefits to reduce peak electrical loads, thus reducing reinforcement costs, as well as delivering an energy transition at a lower cost by maximising use of the existing gas infrastructure.”
