Schneider Electric has introduced a standard microgrid that is said to be faster to deploy, reducing project timelines from years to months.

To help businesses achieve resilience and a path to net zero, the EcoStruxure Microgrid Flex can optimise energy operations while delivering on decarbonisation.

With distributed energy resources projected to account for 40% of US electricity generation by 2050, the demand for microgrids is growing to meet these needs. Microgrid systems can require a sizeable sum of engineering hours and intense attention to the configuration, planning and deployment of the system.

EcoStruxure Microgrid Flex can expedite the completion of microgrid system projects from specification to design and build in months instead of years. It can have a positive impact on return on investment, as it reduces the number of engineering hours required, resulting in cost savings.

“By producing electricity with renewable resources, microgrids drive increased sustainability, electrification and resiliency for our customers and across the USA,” said Annette Clayton, CEO for Schneider Electric in North America. “This ground-breaking standardised microgrid accelerates decarbonisation and market adoption, allowing more facilities to leverage renewables and manage costs through energy source optimisation.”

Bala Vinayagam, senior vice president at Schneider Electric, added: “Our new EcoStruxure Microgrid Flex empowers businesses to take the future of sustainability into their own hands by considerably reducing downtime, greenhouse gas emissions and energy waste. And, as a configured-to-order offer, customers will achieve greater optimisation of on-site renewables connected to the microgrid.”

Once commissioned, it is optimised through a data-as-a-service model where the microgrid’s data plugs into the AI-powered AutoGrid VPP virtual power plant. This can also plug into a third-party VPP network, derms (distributed energy resource management system), or directly with Schneider’s microgrid software and analytics suite.

“We are very excited to be one of the first partners working with Schneider Electric to deliver EcoStruxure Microgrid Flex to the market,” said Ryan Goodman, CEO of Scale Microgrids. “We believe that utilising Microgrid Flex will enable us to deliver ground-breaking distributed energy systems to our customers with unprecedented speed and efficiency.” 

EcoStruxure Microgrid Flex’s complete package includes:

• Battery energy storage system integrated with inverters, batteries, cooling, switchgear, output transformer, safety features and controls.
• Software and analytics tools for full lifecycle including assessment, feasibility, design, operating and optimising.
• Energy control centre, a single intelligent, pre-engineered and pre-tested DER and control system that helps optimise resources and ensures resilience.
• Services for simple and easy operating, maintaining and optimising of the microgrid.

EcoStruxure Microgrid Flex helps businesses meet their energy strategy needs, including applications for small and medium markets such as hotels, retail, food and beverage, healthcare, and government.