As the northern hemisphere closes in on the winter months, the resiliency of our electrical power grids is a concern, especially here in Texas which experienced significant outages due to extreme cold last winter.

In an Electric Energy Online (EET&D) article, Maximizing Microgrid Resilience Through Integrated Automation Strategies, Emerson’s Rick Kephart shares ways for businesses and other facilities to develop contingencies for these events.

Rick opens describing owners of microgrids such as education and medical campuses, businesses and other critical infrastructure as offering:

…one solution to providing reliable, uninterrupted power during emergency events.

Here are some questions that microgrid owners face.

How do microgrid owners embrace innovation while leveraging existing investments? How do they adapt to new technology without increasing operating and maintenance costs? How can they help their personnel evolve with rapid technology changes?

He notes that implementing:

…a single-platform automation strategy for microgrid management mitigates the inefficiencies of disparate systems and provides numerous operational, maintenance and financial benefits.

Flexibility is important in a microgrid’s performance.

An integrated distributed control and SCADA platform efficiently manages a microgrid’s distributed energy assets to cost-effectively produce low-carbon electricity while maintaining grid stability and operational resiliency. A unified system maximizes microgrid resiliency through on-demand, grid-connected and islanded control. It reliably automates control of all microgrid components and macrogrid interconnections to satisfy power demand and maintain stable operating conditions in the event of a macrogrid electrical disturbance.

Read the article for the importance of comprehensive microgrid management, the use of scalable & robust controllers, common software tools, cybersecurity programs, digital twin simulations, advanced analytics, and integration with enterprise data for optimum reliable performance… especially when it’s needed most.

Visit the Microgrid Controller and Control Systems section on Emerson.com for more on the microgrid control solutions and how it manages a microgrid’s distributed energy assets to cost-effectively produce low-carbon electricity while maintaining grid stability and operational resiliency.