How RNG and big energy consumers are changing the microgrid proposition

Source: Elisa Wood | · MICROGRID KNOWLEDGE · | November 14, 2022

In a far-ranging interview, Enchanted Rock Founder and CEO Thomas McAndrew explains why the industry no longer needs to push microgrids so much. The market is pulling.

Source: PHOTOCREO Michal Bednarek/Shutterstock.com

Enchanted Rock struck gold when it figured out how to leverage Texas’ wholesale electricity markets to bring microgrids — and the energy reliability they offer — to retail customers in a cost-competitive way.

Over the last six years, the company has installed microgrid after microgrid — 280 in all — for high-visibility retail stores able to stay open and serve communities during power outages, medical and senior facilities, manufacturers, utilities, water plants and others. Moving beyond its Texas home base to other states, Enchanted Rock quickly became one of the most visible players in the North American microgrid arena. Others now imitate its model.

But the company has a problem — natural gas has been the primary fuel for its microgrids in an era when fossil fuels are a hard sell in parts of the US. It’s an issue shared by many other microgrid operators who, at the very least, rely on natural gas or diesel when other resources deplete: The grid is down, the wind stops blowing, the sun stops shining and batteries use up their charge.

But the rise of renewable natural gas (RNG) is quickly changing the conversation for Enchanted Rock and others.

Last week, Microgrid Knowledge talked to Enchanted Rock Founder and CEO Thomas McAndrew about RNG at the Decentralised Energy Forum in Ottawa, Canada, where McAndrew spoke on a panel about the topic. Hosted by Decentralised Energy Canada, an industry group, the event drew more than 100 people from energy and government.