Coachella Waste-to-Bioenergy plant adding Solar-Storage Microgrid combo

Jan. 20, 2023
The microgrid, which includes 846 kW solar canopies and a 2.6-MWh battery energy storage system, was built under a contract awarded by IWP via smart energy solutions company Gridscape Solutions

Renewable energy solutions provider Industria Power has completed the construction of a nearly 1-MW solar microgrid for bioenergy processing company Imperial Western Products (IWP) in Coachella, California.

The microgrid, which includes 846 kW solar canopies and a 2.6-MWh battery energy storage system, was built under a contract awarded by IWP via smart energy solutions company Gridscape Solutions.

“Industria Power and Gridscape Solutions continue to work together to develop and construct more than 18 complex solar microgrids at multiple locations throughout California,” said Ralph Ciarlanti III, CEO & President of Industria Power.

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The project was funded in part by the Advanced Emergency Microgrid grant from the California Energy Commission.

The microgrid is expected to help IWP reduce electric utility costs and lower greenhouse gas emissions, and also provide backup power during utility outages. In the event of a utility power outage, the microgrid will operate independently, using solar power and the lithium iron phosphate battery-based energy storage system to power the entire facility.

“In addition to the cost savings and improved resiliency our employees are very happy with the additional shading created by the solar carports,” Joseph Boyd, Director of Engineering West at IWP, said.

Industria Power is a California-based company that offers project development, design, engineering, procurement, and construction of renewable energy solutions including battery-based energy storage systems and microgrids.

Headquartered in Coachella, California, IWP is a company with enterprises centered around the conversion of a diverse mix of wastes into saleable products. It is a subsidiary of Arkansas-based water treatment supplier Denali Water Solutions.

About the Author

EnergyTech Staff

Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

He can be reached at [email protected]

EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

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