AlphaStruxure and Montgomery County begin work on Microgrid project

AlphaStruxure, a leader in Energy as a Service (EaaS) microgrid solutions, and Montgomery County, Maryland, initiated a groundbreaking microgrid infrastructure project. The investment will include charging electric buses and producing ecological hydrogen on site, powered by solar energy and batteries.

Key components include:

5.65 MWDC of solar generation on rooftops and canopies

Battery energy storage with a capacity of 2 MW/6.88 MWh

Up to 2.25 MW of charging power

Hydrogen electrolyzer with a capacity of 1 MW

IoT-connected software tools and hardware

Montgomery County, home to the second largest bus fleet in the Washington region, is focusing on this project at the David F. Bone Equipment Maintenance and Transportation Operations Center.

The warehouse, a key node in the Ride On Montgomery network, is one of the largest energy consumers in the county. By 2035, it is expected to operate 200 zero-emission buses, mainly hydrogen fuel cell electric buses (FCEBs), which offer greater range compared to battery-powered electric buses, thus enabling longer routes to be served.

The microgrid, expected to be completed in 2025, will feed renewable energy into the grid and power zero-emission buses. This project builds on the success of the Brookville Smart Energy Bus Depot, the county’s first microgrid-powered bus depot, launched in 2022. Collectively, these depots are expected to power approximately 335 zero-emission transit buses, consistent with the county’s fleet transformation plan.

AlphaStruxure CEO Juan Macias expressed enthusiasm for the project, stating, “The county has established itself as a national leader in zero-emission transportation. Our EaaS approach enables the county to achieve sustainable and resilient transit without upfront capital, reducing risk during the financial, construction and operational phases of the project.

The microgrid will significantly contribute to the county’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 100 percent by 2035, reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 4,000 metric tons of CO2 per year, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of approximately 780 homes.

AlphaStruxure and Montgomery County will work closely with Pepco to rapidly deploy the microgrid. The system will also be able to transmit up to two megawatts of renewable energy back to the power grid under Pepco’s grid metering program.