Microgrid Module Guide
Microgrid DER Optimization & Resilience
On-site gas generation — fuel cells, reciprocating engines, and gas turbines — combined with solar and storage. Behind-the-meter power for data centers and AI, everyday savings, and outage resilience, all in one lifecycle business case.
Technology Overview
The defining microgrid opportunity right now is on-site power for data centers and AI. Grid interconnection queues stretch for years while AI compute demand is growing far faster than utilities can add capacity — so operators are turning to behind-the-meter generation to power new load today, with the grid as backup rather than the primary source.
That generation is not one machine. The strongest designs mix multiple prime movers of different sizes — for example fuel cells plus reciprocating (RICE) engines for fast-responding baseload and dispatchable capacity, or gas turbines plus RICE plus a battery to cover base, ramp, and peak. Each technology has a different capital cost, efficiency, ramp rate, and emissions profile; the right combination — not the single best unit — wins.
A microgrid is only as good as its dispatch. Co-optimizing generation, solar, and storage against the tariff turns a pile of assets into everyday savings — peak shaving, demand-charge management, arbitrage, and self-consumption. Layer on resilience — sizing for a defined critical load and outage duration, with an islanding disconnect — and the business case combines the savings you bank every day with the downtime you avoid.
The CogenS™ Microgrid Module co-dispatches on-site gas generation (fuel cells, RICE engines, gas turbines — multiple units, mixed sizes), solar PV, and battery storage as one system, with grid-interaction and metering, islanding resilience, and a full lifecycle business case (NPV, IRR, payback, TCO) from both the owner and Energy-as-a- Service provider perspectives.
Module Specs at a Glance
On-Site Generation
Fuel cells, reciprocating (RICE) engines, and gas turbines — multiple units of different sizes, in any combination (FC + RICE, or Gas Turbine + RICE + BESS).
Solar & Storage
On-site PV and battery storage co-optimized with the generation for self-consumption, peak shaving, and arbitrage.
Grid Interaction
Grid import limits, monthly export caps, and metering (NEM 2.0, Net Billing, Buy-All-Sell-All) respected by the dispatch.
Resilience
Critical-load coverage over a defined outage duration with an islanding disconnect; cost of unserved energy priced against backup investment.
Target Applications
Data centers and AI campuses facing interconnection delays, hospitals and mission-critical sites, and large commercial/industrial loads.
Output
TEA report with NPV, IRR, payback, TCO, dispatch stacks, resilience analysis, and multi-scenario comparison.
How to Design a Project
A high-level workflow that mirrors how the CogenS™ platform structures the analysis end-to-end.
Characterize the load
Build the 8,760-hour electric (and any thermal) load profile. For data centers and AI, capture the near-flat, high-utilization power draw and the growth trajectory — this drives how much firm on-site generation you need.
Choose the generation mix
Select prime movers and sizes: fuel cells for clean, steady baseload; reciprocating engines for fast ramp and dispatchable capacity; gas turbines for large firm output. Combine multiple units of different sizes so the plant follows load efficiently across the year.
Add solar and storage
Layer on PV and battery storage to trim fuel use, shave peaks, and provide fast frequency/ramp support. The battery also bridges generator starts during an islanding transition.
Set grid limits and metering
Define the interconnection import limit and any export rules. The microgrid can run grid-parallel for economics and island on outage — the dispatch respects both the import cap and the export/metering policy.
Size for resilience
Define the critical-load fraction and the outage duration to ride through. Size firm generation plus storage to cover it, and price the avoided cost of unserved energy alongside the everyday savings.
Co-optimize dispatch and run the TEA
Run the economic dispatch to minimize energy cost across all assets against the tariff, then review the lifecycle TEA. For third-party ownership, model the Energy-as-a-Service structure with a dual-MARR solve.
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