Enchanted Rock to build California’s largest RNG microgrid for Microsoft

Source: Elisa Wood | · MICROGRID KNOWLEDGE · | June 15, 2022

Source: In-Building Tech

Microsoft has contracted with Enchanted Rock to develop a data center microgrid — the largest microgrid in California to date that will use renewable natural gas (RNG) to offset fossil fuels.

Located in San Jose, a city whose mayor has become an outspoken advocate of microgrids and grid independence, the microgrid will be part of a Microsoft data center being constructed.

Plans call for a 100-MW microgrid that will include 224 natural gas generators, each with a 0.45 MW capacity.

The microgrid represents a growing trend of offsetting use of fossil fuels with RNG, a fuel made from capturing methane produced by decomposing waste from livestock, water treatment, food and other sources. Texas-based Enchanted Rock was one of the microgrid companies early out of the gate in using RNG, which allows developers to offer clean energy with the reliability of fossil fuels.

The on-site generators will not actually use RNG — they will be fueled by natural gas — but Enchanted Rock will inject an equal amount of RNG into the grid to offset the natural gas use.

California incentivizing RNG

California has been pushing renewable fuels as an alternative to fossil fuels and offers an incentive covering up to 50% of an RNG project’s interconnection costs, with a cap of up to $1.5 million per project. The program is capped at $40 million statewide and has $10.5 million in incentive funding remaining, with nearly $50 million of applications in the queue, demonstrating the growing demand for RNG.