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Figure 6
Distributed Energy Resource Options

https://betterbuildingssolutioncenter.energy.gov/sites/default/files/attachments/DER_Disaster_Impacts_Issue%20Brief.pdf

each user should identify its value indicate the system is highly resilient, taking this short-sighted approach,
loss to guarantee the accuracy of the while the full blue circle indicates HARC has developed a tool that
economic viability of the microgrid. the system is highly susceptible to allows organizations to consider the
For step 6, the facility manager an outage during that weather event. entire life-cycle costs and benefits of
sets the resilience goals. Two primary Once the technologies are selected, owning a microgrid. This framework
considerations when setting goals HARC deploys computational optimi- analyzes how microgrids, when
are understanding the likelihood of zation techniques to explore as many properly sized and designed, can
outage and the cost. Attention should combinations of energy technologies provide a long-term benefit to a site
be focused on determining if the mi- and sizes as possible. The models by lessening outage risk caused by
crogrid needs to cover the entire site’s are often based on optimization extreme weather events. N
load during and after an outage event algorithms to find the best energy
or does the microgrid just need to generation and energy storage mix Dr. Gavin Dillingham is Director
provide contingency power to aid in for the microgrid that satisfies the for Clean Energy Policy at HARC
the transition to a stand-by or secure power demand at the lowest cost and and serves as Director of the U.S.
mode. In this manner, microgrids provides the greatest resilience. Department of Energy’s Southcentral
enable a site to go down safely while When the analysis is complete, the and Upper West Combined Heat
maintaining critical loads, until the building manager will have a true and Power Technical Assistance
grid comes back online. cost of ownership of a microgrid. Partnership. He can be reached at
For steps 7 and 8, the building This analysis requires a holistic as- gdillingham@harcresearch.org.
manager can consider the type of sessment of the cost of non-resilience,
onsite power needed. The Department i.e., cost of future power disturbances Dr. Carlos Gamarra, P.E. – Sr. Research
of Energy’s Resilience Accelerator less the cost of the microgrid. Scientist, Clean Energy Technology;
determined the vulnerability and re- Assistant Director Southcentral CHP
silience of specific distributed energy Conclusion TAP. He can be reached at CGamarra@
resources under different weather Extreme weather events result in harcresearch.org.
events (Figure 6). This publicly avail- a higher number of power outages.
able information can help end-users These outages create significant 1. Article based on framework study developed
determine the most appropriate set costs to businesses. Taking actions to by Carlos Gamarra, P.E., PhD; Margaret Cook,
of technologies to deploy for each mitigate these outage risks has often PhD; Lu Liu, PhD and Gavin Dillingham, PhD
facility. Figure 6 lists out six distrib- been stymied due to a narrow focus 2. https://enchantedrock.
uted energy options, and six extreme on simple payback and first cost com/2016712enchanted-rock-texas-
weather events. The white circles return on investment. Rather than microgrid-powers-h-e-b/

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