Rialto Resilient Clean Power Microgrid
The microgrid project will optimize power management and renewable integration at the Rialto Bioenergy Facility.
Rialto Bioenergy Facility LLC
Recipient
Carlsbad, CA
Recipient Location
38th
Senate District
77th
Assembly District
$4,997,500
Amount Spent
Active
Project Status
Project Update
In a change of ownership, Rialto Bioenery Facility is now owned and operated by Rialto Bioenergy Solutions, LLC. The California Energy Commission is currently in the process of transferring the grant agreement to Rialto Bioenergy Solutions, LLC, with the intention of completing the remaining scope of the agreement to include a three-day island test and the project final report.
The Issue
Presently, microgrid system deployment at facilities that manage wastewater, wastewater biosolids, or food waste, is very uncommon. Microgrids have the potential to optimize onsite power management, enhance power export, and provide other grid and ratepayer benefits which can reduce the overall operational costs of these facilities and enable them to operate in the event of a grid outage. Additionally, California has a goal of diverting 75 percent of waste from landfill disposal by 2020, as called for by AB341; anaerobic digestion to convert waste into energy is part of the solution.
Project Innovation
The purpose of this project is to fund a new permanent microgrid installation at the Rialto Bioenergy Facility (RBF), which will generate biogas from food waste. The microgrid will manage energy from biogas production and an energy storage system to support the power demand of the RBF. This will minimize grid draw and enhance renewable electricity export. The project will install battery storage, demand response capabilities, new power production capacity, an enhanced Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) interface, and switchgear to allow islanding in the case of a utility outage.
Project Benefits
This project will demonstrate the business case for a microgrid that can improve operations of a food and biowaste treatment facility, as well as a wastewater treatment facility, located in a disadvantaged community. The microgrid will use a microgrid controller to optimize a biogas cogeneration system, fueled by available feedstock, and utilize energy storage to enable the facility to continue operations during a grid outage. This project will demonstrate the microgrid's ability to provide benefits to the residents of the disadvantaged community by providing opportunities to participate in demand response activities, providing cleaner air quality, and increasing grid reliability and resiliency. The business case could be applicable to the 156 critical waste water treatment plants across California.
Affordability
The microgrid will allow the facility to cut operating energy costs, which will make the economics of anaerobic digestion of food waste and biosolids more feasible in the state.
Environmental Sustainability
The RBF will support diversion of food waste from landfills and enable the state to better utilize biosolids, rather than ship them to neighboring states for management; thus, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Reliability
The project is located near the end of the San Bernardino Corridor, a congested transmission system, and will provide distributed power resources to this area. Greater electricity reliability will result by implementing demand response, minimizing peak power demand and by providing a local source of 2 MW of power. This will alleviate grid bottlenecking and enhance power supply resiliency and reliability to nearby disadvantaged communities.
Key Project Members
Jeremy Armstrong
Subrecipients
GHD, Inc.
The Grant Farm, Inc
GC Green, Incorporated
W. M. Lyles Co.
Trinity Consultants
Southern Electric
Match Partners
The Grant Farm, Inc
Rialto Bioenergy Facility LLC
Trinity Consultants
Southern Electric
