TotalEnergies and Schneider Electric have started construction on a 2-MW solar microgrid system with a 1.25-MW battery energy storage system in California. Once construction has been completed, the solar microgrid will be integrated with the new Rockwell/Allen Bradley distributed control system (DCS) at natural gas producer Aemetis‘ Advanced Fuels biorefinery in Keyes.
Foundations for the solar array are now under construction, with project completion expected in Q2 2023. TotalEnergies serves as the project’s PV supplier as well as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.
“The microgrid creates energy resiliency and will assist with off-peak load shedding and energy efficiency,” said Eric McAfee, chairman and CEO of Aemetis. “This microgrid, along with other energy-saving technologies being implemented at our low-carbon ethanol facility, will further reduce the carbon intensity score of the fuel ethanol produced.”
The AI-enabled control system will run on virtualized servers, reducing the amount of computer hardware by 80%, which will require less power to operate than traditional systems. The virtual environment will also help reduce planned and unplanned downtime.
News item from Aemetis
