EDF North America Installs Clean Energy Microgrid at its HQ

EDF Renewables North America has announced that the operation of its Innovation Drive Microgrid that is located at the company’s headquarters in San Diego.

EDF Renewables North America has announced that the operation of its Innovation Drive Microgrid. The system is comprised of a 209 kWp solar carport, 182 kWp solar rooftop, 280 kW (538 kWh) battery storage system and 43 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations located at the company’s headquarters in San Diego.

The solar and battery storage system, managed by EDF Store & Forecast’s Energy Management System (EMS), enables onsite coordination of energy production and site consumption thanks to the flexible sources and forecast services provided. The fully integrated system reduces both energy and demand charges with controllable and predictable energy costs, and flattens not only EV load but manages the entire facility’s energy consumption patterns to reduce utility bills. The system is tailored to EDF Renewables Innovation Drive Campus’ unique characteristics and requirements, turning the rooftop and parking lot into a sustainable clean energy asset.

Patrick Kelly, Director of EV Operations for EDF Renewables, said “by combining EV infrastructure with solar and storage, we are able to offer the lowest cost of charging – for both capital and operating expenses. The system made financial sense particularly when SDG&E time-of-use (TOU) rates changed in 2019.”

The EV charging system was installed by PowerFlex, an EDF Renewables Company, using their Adaptive Load Management (ALM) technology. This patented technology, developed out of Caltech, enables hosts to maximise delivery of electricity to electric vehicles while reducing or eliminating the need for costly utility upgrades by managing to charge dependent upon driver’s demand, building load, onsite generation, and other variables.

Raphael Declercq, Executive Vice President, Distributed Solutions at EDF Renewables said, “we are very proud of our onsite project that allows integration of more renewable energy onto the grid that will save millions of dollars over the lifetime of the project. Our goal is to help businesses reduce their electricity bills while increasing the share of clean power and clean vehicles, in particular in our home state of California.”

The solar and battery storage portions of the project qualify for Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC), if the storage battery is charged only by solar power during the first 5 years. In addition, the battery storage also qualifies for the Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) which provides rebates for qualifying distributed energy systems installed on the customer’s side of the utility meter.