resilient community grids
Resilience Beyond Microgrids
Resilient Community Grids : A local section of an electric T&D network containing:
- Power generation and critical infrastructure facilities that, when necessary, can be “islanded” to operate independently of the rest of the T&D network;
- An independent control, communications, and cybersecurity system that does not operate and is not visible during normal conditions; and
- Advanced technologies for greater control, deeper grid visibility, enhanced cybersecurity, and multi-threat hardening.
Resilient Community Grids provide:
- A method of increasing the resilience of critical infrastructure and reducing their interdependence,
- An ideal platform for distributed energy resources and renewable energy resources, and
- A clear purpose for embedded community microgrids supportive of the broader electric grid.
Although both Resilient Community Grids and microgrids have the capability to electrically island, Resilient Community Grids are not microgrids. Unlike microgrids, Resilient Community Grids are an intrinsic part of the regional electric transmission and distribution grid and have no Point of Common Coupling with the grid. Resilient Community Grids provide electricity resilience to more facilities than can microgrids and can better serve the critical infrastructure of an entire community even though various facilities may have different ownership. Resilient Community Grids can also be used in coordination with microgrids to provide a layered defense against various kinds of threats.
NIAC Recommendation
The December 2018 National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) report
“Surviving a Catastrophic Power Outage” recommended what it termed as "enclaves" for secure power as a way to ensure that communities have the ability to continue providing critical services during long-term power outages. Other studies have also shown the need for enclaves. A Resilient Community Grid using technology developed by OnGrid Options, LLC is the only method available to implement the type of secure power enclave concept envisioned by the NIAC report.
NIAC is composed of senior executives from industry and state and local government who own and operate critical infrastructure. The Council was established by executive order in 2001 to advise the President on practical strategies to reduce complex risks to the designated critical infrastructure sectors.
Click on image to download report.
E-Pro Handbook and Enclaves
The E-PR0 Handbook series, published by the Electric Infrastructure Security (EIS) Council, is a practical guide to the threats, both natural and manmade, that can create catastrophic "black sky" electric outages and to the measures that can protect against those threats. The first volume provides an overview of the threats, the grid protection and restoration challenges, and a "whole community" framework for addressing the threats. One significant part of the framework is the creation of what it also termed
"enclaves"--what only Resilient Community Grids do. Subsequent volumes address individual critical infrastructure sectors. The EIS Council is an international NGO that works with utilities, critical infrastructure, academic institutions, and other organizations to address electricity security.
