Microgrids Blanket Alaska - Prime US Testbed

Alaska is global leader in microgrid technology with one of
highest concentrations of renewably powered microgrid projects in
the world. In this episode of Grid Talk, host Marty Rosenberg
talks with Peter Asmus who is Executive Director of Alaska
Microgrid Group. The group offers access to expertise from the
utility industry and research community to leverage decades of
experience designing, building and operating microgrid projects
across Alaska.


“What’s unique about Alaska is it’s number one in the U.S. for
total microgrid capacity,” said Asmus. 


Just about every Alaskan is served by a microgrid.


“At last count I saw something like 3,500 megawatts of installed
capacity. Most of those systems are what I would call remote
power systems where there is no grid and that’s what’s unusual
about Alaska”.


Microgrids loom large over the future of an electric grid that
will be integrating increasing amounts of renewable energy,
providing ever greater levels of resilience, Asmus said. “I see
microgrids becoming a bigger and bigger thing as climate change
impacts accelerate and the power outage rate keeps going up.
People are so dependent on electricity; they’re going to want
some form of a microgrid resiliency.”


Peter Asmus is a leading global authority on microgrid markets
and other emerging trends in sustainable and resilient energy
systems. Author of four books, he has been writing about and
analyzing emerging trends in energy policy, technology and
applications since 1986. Most recently, he was Research Director
with Guidehouse Insights where he started up the world’s first
global data set on microgrids and developed a forecast
methodology to estimate future growth. Additionally, he was
editor of the Clean Power Journal, assistant editor of California
Policy Choices, and has written for several energy trade
publications, including Windpower Monthly and Electric Utility
Week. 


Asmus holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University
of Wisconsin.