Brooklyn Microgrid
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Brooklyn Microgrid (BMG) is an energy marketplace for locally generated, renewable energy.
BMG seeks to harness the buying power of Brooklyn residents by having them participate in a simulated energy marketplace. Brooklyn Microgrid aims to show regulators that Brooklynites care about their community's energy future. The simulated BMG marketplace will demonstrate people's willingness to pay for locally generated, renewable energy.
https://www.brooklyn.energy/
Note: The OP is not associated with the project. I'm just a fan.
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@Eric-Chaves I've heard of this. Do you know anything about Exergy, who seems like the group behind it?
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@athabaska Yeah, the company behind both exergy and BKM is Lo3energy. The different names are confusing... I've met the BKM team a few times at meetups. They're a great bunch. Dedicated, smart, and community minded.
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This has "future of energy" written all over it. Since it's simulated for now, @Eric-Chaves do you know if, how, or when they are planning on developing it in reality?
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how does the "simulation" work?
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@ericvanular BMG's simulation project has another advantage ahead: Energy Security. Consider large scale energy distributors now experience catastrophic black-outs that affect whole provinces, states and regions. The Ice Storm (1998) in Eastern Canada and Northeast USA states is not a distant memory when we see the affects from a recent November wind storm in Quebec that shut down power to half a million people in the province. Not only economics was affected with industry and transportation having no options, but whole families in 300,000 homes in the province had children, older adults and vulnerable family members at risk had power disruption persisted. Energy security is ahead with project like BMG.
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@K-Fitzsimmons Energy security is definitely a key benefit of distributed microgrids. The energy impacts from California's wildfires could be mitigated with a network of interconnected microgrids
The interesting innovation here is the transactive aspect of this project. Localized energy marketplaces might change the game completely
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@Eric-Chaves Upon some more research, it looks like they work with blockchain heavily. What advantages - if any - could a distributed ledger provide in this context?
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@athabaska Hey, I believe that blockchain will allow for micro energy transactions to be tracked across many companies, individuals, and devices. Blockchain is still a nascent technology. There is a lot of hype and doubt about it. Some technologists believe that blockchain is never needed because you can always build the same system with a centralized software solution. But the strength of a blockchain is that it is trustless. If we are going to build intricate microgrids with energy flowing in multiple directions in complicated ways, I personally believe that blockchain could be a promising solution to balance the books of this new decentralized market.
Extra nerd info about BMG's blockchain research. Exergy is made the same parent company as BMG.
https://exergy.energy/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/TransactiveEnergy-PolicyPaper-v2-2.pdf
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@Eric-Chaves Using a blockchain might be an over-engineered solution but it could also be the key to unlocking a more transactive grid, which I believe to be the future. Consumers becoming pro-sumers is an inevitability if we reach a world where distributed energy resources gain traction. In either case, the Brooklyn Microgrid is definitely one to watch as a pilot for potential future projects everywhere
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@Eric-Chaves have you been in contact with the Brooklyn Microgrid group at all? Perhaps we should reach out and try to get them engaged here
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@georgepratt Hey - yeah I have engaged with them some. My contacts there are not super strong, but I think one person is still there who would remember meeting me. Let me know if you'd like an intro. Or I'll put it on my list to reach out to them.
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@Eric-Chaves I'm asking more out of personal curiosity. I have no relation to them so it might be better coming from you if you're willing
