University of New Hampshire
Enhancing Economic Opportunity for Isolated Coastal and Island Communities through Resilient Energy-Water Microgrid Systems
Durham, NH
Industry Challenge
Federal Share: $598,152
Local Match: $598,284
The goal is to catalyze economic development opportunities for remote island, coastal or islanded communities in the Gulf of Maine by advancing sustainable and affordable energy and water infrastructure technologies and facilitating knowledge and technology transfer that will guide implementation. This project will create economic opportunity by 1) generating deep understanding of the power supply, water, and connectivity needs and barriers faced by isolated island and coastal communities, 2) creating an interoperability test bed for companies to evaluate microgrid system components, 3) creating adaptable and commercializable analysis, design, and control toolkits for resilient, integrated, scalable energy-water microgrid (EWM) systems that can be adapted by communities with the help of local energy developers to meet their needs, and 4) leveraging reliable energy and water systems to expand economic opportunity in sectors such as tourism, fisheries, and aquaculture. This project seeks to provide a test bed and model for the evaluation, design and control of energy-water microgrid systems and a process for disseminating this knowledge to remote communities that could benefit from such systems. From the outset, the project team will seek to engage island community representatives and residents, as well as community development partners and businesses and bring them together with the engineering expertise on the project to shape project components and outcomes. This integration will help ensure that the project translates to real-world technological uptake, application, and effective operations.