The Value of Battery Storage in Military Microgrids: An Assessment for ESTCP

Fixed military installations cannot function without a reliable supply of electricity. The U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) mission is under increasing threat as the power backbone of installations faces growing risk from grid power outages, especially as outages of up to one week become more frequent. To address this increasing risk, DoD is pursuing the deployment of microgrid technologies. Microgrids are an alternative to the longstanding energy security paradigm of simply attaching a back-up generator to each building with a critical function. In parallel to its pursuit of microgrids, DoD also has been successfully working with the private sector to develop solar energy assets on installations. Although bringing economic value, solar assets are not a back-up power solution in the absence of energy storage. This report summarizes the results of recent ESTCP studies to isolate under what conditions energy storage systems can cost-effectively and materially enhance energy security within a military microgrid. Integrated into a microgrid, battery energy storage can play a key role in DoD energy assurance by providing increased energy reliability at lower lifecycle costs.