The U.S. military, like corporate America and a swath of states, is increasingly turning to grid edge technology to help reduce energy costs and maintain resilience. Like most energy consumers, bases are looking to cut peak demand and integrate additional renewables into their mix. According to AECOM, the currrent primary-use case for the BESS is demand charge reduction, but the battery system may take on other tasks, including optimization of Fort Carson's photovoltaic assets, frequency and voltage support for Fort Carson's distribution grid and, potentially, microgrid support. AECOM Senior Vice President Annika Moman said in a statement the company went with Lockheed Martin's GridStar system due to their "unique modular architecture allowing for a flexible design and a reduction in operational risk." The military's interest in clean energy technology has been growing. Last year, Go Electric won a $1.7 million contract from Perini Management Services to provide a 1 MW, 1 MWh battery storage system to a U.S. Army depot in Tooele, Utah. According to Navigant, microgrids could help DOD reduce the $4 billion it spends on energy across its 523 installations and 280,000 buildings. The firm's 2017 report concluded shifting from a reliance on backup diesel generators to large-scale microgrids could save the agency between $8 billion and $20 billion over the next 20 years.
AECOM has started building an energy storage system for the US Army at Fort Carson, Colorado. The system will use a 4.25 MW/8.5 MWh lithium-ion battery to cut energy costs and improve resilience at the base. The storage system will seek to cut peak electricity demand and will be the biggest stand-alone commercially contracted battery at a US military base to date, according to developers. The US military is accelerating funding and development of clean energy and grid security, with yearly spending on microgrids expected to rise to $1.4bn in 2026, up from $453m in 2017.