GROTON — Navy, state and local officials on Wednesday celebrated the completion of a micro-grid at the naval submarine base, a project they said will make the base more energy resilient and serve as a model for other military installations across the country.
Capt. Kenneth M. Curtin, Jr., commanding officer of the Naval Submarine Base, called the project, which was more than a decade in the making, a "game changer" that will ensure energy resiliency and efficiency at the base.
A micro-grid system allows the Navy to generate its own electricity and ensures the base will have electricity, if there should be a power outage from the public grid, Curtin explained. He said the micro-grid at the base is the first of its kind of this scale in the Navy.
New course of energy resilience
Officials toured the power plant at the base and then gathered at the waterfront for a ribbon-cutting ceremony that featured speeches about the importance of energy security, efficiency and resiliency for the Navy.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D- Conn., said the project sets the Navy on a new course of energy efficiency, reliability, resilience and readiness.
Blumenthal said the monumental day began with a meeting years ago between former Gov. Dannel Malloy and former Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, who was committed to energy efficiency.
U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D- 2nd District, said the meeting took place as a result of two "near death experiences" the base had, first in the 1990s and then in 2005.
In the wake of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission decision to keep the base open, officials realized the need to look at what was identified as a weakness of the base: that the base was reliant on the outside grid, Courtney said.
The project for an inside grid would help make sure the base would score higher if there ever was another round of BRAC.
Meredith Berger, assistant secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations and the Environment, said the micro-grid provides renewable, reliable, and redundant energy, and supports "mission assurance" for the base. She said it is an example of what all bases, stations and installations should look like.
Berger said the micro-grid project helps build energy resilience in the face of climate threats, whether it is sea level rise or increased storms, that cause power interruptions.
Gov. Ned Lamont said the micro-grid will make sure "the lights stay on" at the base, which he said is "important for our security and the world."
Rear Adm. Carl Lahti, commander of Navy Region Mid-Atlantic who served as 50th commanding officer of the base, was described as the "architect" of the project.
He said the Navy will continue to improve and modernize the micro-grid, just like the rest of the base.
Energy improvements
Curtin said that before the micro-grid, the base had an aging generator that by itself would not supply all the power the base needed if it lost power from its external source of Groton Utilities.
Now the micro-grid can power all of the base's mission-essential needs ― any submarines, as well as buildings and the submarine school ― internally, should the base lose its external power source, Curtin said.
The system also has energy efficiencies so there are cost savings, he said. He said energy is the largest cost for Navy installations so the savings free up money that can be used in the fleet.
Curtin said, with the micro-grid, the base always will buy some power from the public grid, but typically makes a greater portion of energy than the amount it buys.
Curtin said more than $235 million was invested in the base for energy reliability, security and resiliency, at no cost to the Navy. The Navy said the state, Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative, Danbury-based FuelCell Energy, Massachusetts-based NORESCO, and contractors and sub-contractors are key contributors to the project.
Curtin said two earlier projects laid the foundation for the micro-grid.
Under the Navy's "Enhanced Use Lease," program, CMEEC sub-leased the Navy's under-utilized land parcel adjacent to the on-base power substation to Danbury-based FuelCell Energy, Inc. for a fuel cell park, Curtin said.
Normally, the park supplies energy to Groton's electric distribution system, but during emergencies, the energy can be isolated to flow through the micro-grid for the Navy's sole use for the base, said CMEEC CEO David Meisinger.
The base worked with NORESCO, a New England-based energy services company, to pursue an energy savings performance contract, which resulted in an energy-efficient heat and power system, Curtin said. The state also funded an energy-efficient boiler.
The third step was creating the micro-grid by connecting it all together and adding controlling software and smart grid components, he said.
FuelCell Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Mark Feasel and NORESCO Senior Vice President of Strategy and Growth Darcy Immerman also spoke at the event.
"The completion of the microgrid at Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton marks a significant achievement in enhancing energy resilience and national security," state Rep. Aundré Bumgardner, D- Groton, said in a statement. " Groton Utilities and CMEEC were key partners in this collaborative effort, providing local expertise and resources to ensure the project's success."
"This advanced system allows the base to operate independently from the public grid during disruptions, a vital step forward in both climate resilience and energy independence," he added. "I'm proud to have supported the state budget, which made $5 million in microgrid design and construction costs reimbursable."
After the ceremony, Lamont visited Robert E. Fitch High School, where he met with about 200 students from AP Government, College Prep Civics, and Fitch's International Baccalaureate Diploma Program in the auditorium, according to the school district.
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