Mamaroneck Microgrid Research Grant
Westchester County’s Village of Mamaroneck is among 83 New York communities that were awarded $100,000 by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to conduct a microgrid feasibility study as part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s “Reforming the Energy Vision” strategy.
Steven Winter Associates, Inc. (SWA) worked with a diverse team to develop one of the winning proposal submissions, including technical and leadership support from SWA, development experience from Murphy Brothers Contracting, advising from Mamaroneck town leaders, and backing from NYS Senator George Latimer. The team’s vital technical expertise came from Spirae, Delta, and Intelligen who offer years of successful microgrid experience in the areas of controls, distributed energy resources and energy storage. The Mamaroneck project proposal was chosen among a pool of more than 130 submitted statewide.
The “Industrial Area Redevelopment Plan” occurring in this area provides an ideal environment for a microgrid that can strengthen the grid and maintain critical services to the growing community. The Village of Mamaroneck is a flood prone area that has suffered damaging effects from several severe weather events dating back to spring of 2007 exacerbated by the burgeoning impervious surfacing due to development from White Plains down to Mamaroneck Village. The area surrounding Fenimore Rd and Waverly Ave is currently undergoing major redevelopment in an effort to control flooding issues and to spur economic growth.
The team initially considered a wide array of buildings to include in the microgrid across several areas in the Village of Mamaroneck, but after discussion with Con Edison engineers about working all potential facilities into one grid system, the team concluded that buildings needed to be grouped into smaller microgrid designs based on proximity and existing feeder layout.
During the technical design analysis, the target buildings were broken into two separate potential microgrid areas: Waverly-Fenimore (Mamaroneck Self-Storage, Arctic Glacier Ice) and Mamaroneck Ave (village hall, residential at the Regatta, LMC-TV). A building level analysis was performed for each of the facilities based on available meter data. Generation and grid layout options were evaluated based on existing grid infrastructure. Based on grid interconnect capabilities, the team decided to concentrate efforts on the Fenimore-Waverly area and completed a technical design analysis that included creating preliminary schematics for distributed generation communications and control layout.
The team then analyzed the commercial and financial feasibility of the Fenimore-Waverly design. Efforts included developing preliminary cost models and business operation plans. Working with Industrial Economics Corporation, a detailed financial analysis was completed.
Ultimately, SWA and the team confidently proposed a Fenimore-Waverly microgrid design which includes a 750kW natural gas generator and 850kW of roof mounted PV aggregated capacity that can provide uninterruptable electricity for a group of buildings on Waverly Ave and Fenimore Rd. Critical facilities in the area include Arctic Glacier Ice (local ice manufacturer) and Mamaroneck self-storage (facility that can be used during emergencies as place of refuge and a reserve government command and communications center).