North Carolina is about to gain 24 permanent and mobile microgrids in six counties affected by last year’s Hurricane Helene, designed in a beehive microgrid model.
In a beehive microgrid system, permanent microgrids — the hive — act as hubs for the bees or mobile microgrids. In this case, two hubs, located in the eastern and western parts of the state, will serve as mobile lending libraries providing community organizations with solar and battery equipment.
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Money for the $5 million project comes from the North Carolina State Energy Office (SEO) through funding from the federal Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act. More than $1 million in donated clean tech equipment has been committed to the project, according to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
Three organizations are collaborating with the state on the project: the Footprint Project, Land of Sky Regional Council and the NC Sustainable Energy Association.
North Carolina recently updated its energy security plan, which identifies microgrids as a key way to mitigate impacts from disturbances to the electric grid, according to Julie Woosley, SEO Director.
The document also calls for community plans that integrate energy assurance and resilience, more long-duration storage and renewables to diversify energy supply, and capital improvements to transmission and distribution equipment.
The microgrids represent “a leap forward in how we prepare for and respond to disasters,” said Reid Wilson, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). “Thousands of families were isolated without power and communications after Helene struck. The microgrids will provide essential power supplies and will serve as community resilience hubs in both times of crisis and under normal conditions.”
Site selection for the microgrids will begin in the fall. The state expects to complete the project in June 2027.
“Hurricane Helene showed us that we need to be prepared to withstand severe weather emergencies. That means rebuilding our energy infrastructure with resilience in mind,” said Governor Josh Stein. “This investment will better connect western North Carolina to the rest of the state, and it will improve our ability to keep people safe and respond to future disasters.”
North Carolina is already home to numerous microgrids. Five microgrids — Eagle Chase Farm, Butler Farms, Rose Acre Farms, Ocracoke Island and Herons Nest (a residential microgrid) — are run by electric cooperatives. The state’s largest investor-owned utility, Duke Energy operates microgrids at Camp Lejeune, Fort Bragg, Mount Holly, and Hot Springs, which powered the town center for 143.5 hours after Hurricane Helene, according to the state’s energy security plan.
Several other microgrids are in development, among them a waste-to-electricity project by the Fayetteville Public Works Commission and Bloom Energy, and an on-site microgrid at Siemens Wendell County headquarters.
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