MCAS MIRAMAR, CA -- MCAS MIRAMAR, CA – Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar used its innovative micro-grid technology to island the installation Aug 17 in support of the San Diego community to avoid a power emergency. Naval Facilities Southwest ran the micro-grid power plant for five hours, allowing San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) to provide power to approximately 3,000 homes in the San Diego community during a high demand timeframe. The event highlighted how MCAS Miramar could use its cleaner burning energy generation to support the community in an emergency.
“This is the first event that took advantage of the Miramar Summer Generation Incentive,” said MCAS Miramar Public Works Officer Cdr. Jon Angle. “This agreement was directly coordinated between the California Public Utility Commission, SDG&E, MCAS Miramar, and NAVFAC Southwest. This is a first-of-a-kind and one of the most innovative things we have done. The first agreement was signed last summer; however, no events were called. We re-signed the agreement this summer in July and today will be its first ever use.”
During its design, the micro-grid was developed in a way that allows it to not only work independently for the air station but also in harmony with the city’s local grid. In the summer of 2020, the micro-grid was used to assist local communities by preventing rolling blackouts during the heat wave, proving its utility on a larger geographic scale.
The micro-grid is part of the Marine Corps’ efforts to strengthen and expand energy resilience efforts across its installations. It allows operators to island the installation, manage the power load and redirect power to parts of the base that need it most, such as mission essential flight line operations.
The micro-grid installation at MCAS Miramar was completed in March 2021 after a full-scale Energy Resilience Readiness Exercise, making the air station one of the most energy-forward defense installations in the nation. In addition to using methane gas, the state-of-the-art system incorporates a combination of natural and conventional energy sources, including photovoltaic and solar thermal energy, natural gas and diesel, and battery storage to fully power MCAS Miramar for up to 21 days.