Combined Heat and Power Microgrid Provides Resiliency During Christmas Outages

A Unison Energy microgrid comprised of combined heat and power systems from 2G Energy Inc., withstands the winter storms that kept thousands of PSEG users in the dark for more than 30 hours.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As gusty winds, heavy rain, and frigid temperatures rolled into the Ronkonkoma area on Christmas Eve, many were left watching alerts of power outages and updates in their area, except for the local ShopRite that was able to stand resilient through the elements.

The ShopRite of Lake Ronkonkoma, New York, continued normal operations as the National Weather Service storm described as "once in a generation" began Thursday, December 22nd, and lasted throughout the weekend. Utilizing two 2G combined heat and power units owned and operated by Unison Energy, this location was able to evade massive inventory loss and create a support system for its community by keeping the doors open.

Charles Gallagher, owner of three ShopRite stores on Long Island, stated, "The day of the storm, I received several texts from PSEG Long Island about high winds, flooding, and to plan for long-duration outages. I deleted all of them and was able to rest easy, knowing our Unison microgrids would keep our stores open and power us through any utility outages during the storm."

Director of Marketing for Unison Energy, Leslie Meyer, stated "If power is lost, millions in dollars of inventory is at risk. Without the microgrid, the store would have had to scramble for dry ice and backup generators and to obtain fuel for the generators." 

The Lake Ronkonkoma microgrid is comprised of two combined heat and power (CHP) systems (a 360 kW system & a 280 kW system) with a total generating capacity of 640 kW and on-site controls. These systems utilized 'island mode' for a continuous supply of electricity and heating/cooling as needed, without pulling from the grid. With this disconnection, the store no longer relied on the utility, relieving the grid of excess use and allowing the store to keep up with the peak time fluctuation to support the holiday shoppers. 

"The microgrid's controls sensed that utility power was out and seamlessly put the microgrid in island mode," said Scott Fiveland, Vice President of Operations for Unison Energy.

Unison Energy owns and operates on-site microgrid solutions that provide our clients with energy resilience, significant cost savings, and a reduced carbon footprint. We design, build, own, operate, and maintain these systems through a long-term energy services agreement that requires no capital investment from our clients; the systems remain on our balance sheet and we bill our clients only for energy provided to the facility. For more information, please visit us at www.unisonenergy.com.

2G Energy is one of the leading international manufacturers of combined heat and power (CHP) systems for decentralized electricity and heat generation. 2G's product portfolio supports CHP projects with an electrical output of between 20 kW and 20MW for operation with natural gas, biogas, and hydrogen. 2G has its own combustion engine line with low fuel consumption, high availability, and optimized maintenance intervals. It is the world's first commercial 100 percent H2 capable system. 2G has installed several thousand CHP plants worldwide and supports our projects with best-in-class service and support.

Media Contacts:
Kimberley Padro, Marketing Coordinator
2G Energy Inc.
[email protected]

Leslie Meyer, Director of Marketing
Unison Energy, LLC
[email protected] 

SOURCE 2G Energy