The ESTCP Energy and Water Program Area team attended the 2016 Energy Exchange held in Providence, Rhode Island from August 9 to 11, 2016. The conference was well attended and presented the perfect opportunity for the SERDP and ESTCP Office staff to meet with energy and water professionals from the DoD, other federal agencies and the private sector.

The SERDP and ESTCP booth at the trade show was visited by several DoD installation energy managers, who shared their experiences with past ESTCP projects, biggest energy challenges or opportunities at their base, and provided ideas for future solicitation topics. Attendees also had the opportunity to provide additional input via a quick online survey at the booth. Their feedback is extremely valuable to the continued success of the program and provides greater opportunities for technology transfer across DoD installations.

ESTCP’s Energy and Water Program Manager, Tim Tetreault, presented an overview of the program during the “Federal Technology Programs” session. In addition, individuals involved in three active ESTCP Energy and Water projects presented initial results from the demonstrations of their cutting-edge energy technologies:

Mr. Charles Hammock, the Principal Investigator for the project “Coupling Geothermal Heat Pumps with Underground Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage” (EW-201135), presented during the “HVAC Technologies” session. He provided a descriptive overview of this new to the U.S. technology, Underground Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage (USTES). The objective of this project is to demonstrate that a high-efficiency geothermal heat pump system coupled with a USTES system can provide higher energy savings than traditional geothermal systems and with lower installation and lifecycle costs.

Mr. Russell Gagner from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard presented on the ESTCP project “Microgrid with Fast Load Shedding and Ancillary Services” (EW-201350), during the “Microgrids for Resiliency” session. Portsmouth Naval Shipyard hosted the successful demonstration of this technology, which combines Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and Microgrid Control System (MCS) technologies to provide Fast Load Shedding (FLS) capability that quickly matches critical loads to on-site generation during utility outages.

Mr. Sam Booth from National Renewable Energy Laboratory, presented on the ESTCP project “Zinc Bromide Flow Battery Installation for Islanding and Backup Power” (EW-201242), during the “Planning Large and Small Scale Microgrids and Smart Grids” session. The objective of this project is to demonstrate the energy security and cost benefits of implementing a zinc/bromide flow battery-based Energy Storage System (ESS) at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

Thank you to all who stopped by the ESTCP booth and provided valuable feedback on the program and shared your ideas for future solicitations.  See you at the 2017 Energy Exchange in Tampa, FL!