DVIDS – News – Ongoing Army energy efforts enhance resiliency, benefit community

As the Army continuously transforms, it is looking at how it powers its installations, modernizing and leveraging renewable energy.

Experts across the Army shared updates at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting during a Warriors Corner panel, Oct. 14. The panel, “Army Energy Initiatives – Securing Energy Resilience through Partnerships,” highlighted ongoing projects, lessons learned and the importance of collaboration.

“We need to partner with industry and get after some of the technological advances that they can bring to the table,” said Renee Mosher, Army Materiel Command deputy chief of staff for facilities, logistics and environment, G-4.

Changes to the operational environment have driven the Army to look at its installations differently. When looking at the emergence of multi-domain operations, particularly the cyber and space domains, the Army had a paradigm shift in how it viewed its installations, said Brandon Cockrell, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for energy and sustainability.

“Across the board, the increase in technology over just the past five years has been astronomical, but with increasing technology comes increased risk, and that increased risk brings increased challenges,” he said.

Cockrell said the Army Installation Strategy addresses these concerns, with the goals of taking care of people, strengthening readiness and resilience, modernizing and innovating, and promoting stewardship as its lines of effort.

“Electricity and power are no longer an afterthought – it’s an expectation,” he said. “And that being the case, energy resiliency is embedded throughout all four lines of effort.”

The Army’s endstate is to have modern, resilient, sustainable installations that not only enhance strategic readiness, but also provide quality facilities, services and support for Soldiers, civilians and their families. Cockrell said installations must be able to function as self-sufficiently as an island, and in some cases, be able to have power exported to areas of need.

According to Cockrell, the Army is making great progress on its goals and continuing to find ways to distribute power generation, install microgrids on installations and have installations to be able to operate when grid power is cut. The Army currently has 21 microgrids in operation, 14 under construction and 28 in a design phase.

Cockrell also highlighted a concept underway at Fort Moore, Georgia that converts dining food into renewable natural gas through anaerobic digestion – a process where bacteria break down organic matter in the absence of oxygen. This gas would be used for microgrid energy production, to provide heating and hot water at buildings currently using natural gas, and to offset grid outages.

The Army Reserve has also made progress at Fort Hunter Liggett, California. The installation has commissioned a microgrid and solar array with battery storage, which will help it achieve 90% net zero emissions.

Also, the Army Reserve is piloting a new concept that will impact the Army’s infrastructure. As the Army transitions to an electric vehicle fleet, the Army Reserve has made strides in making electric vehicle support equipment like charging stations available, said Stephen Sullivan, chief financial officer and director for resources, installations, and materiel, for the Office of the Chief of Army Reserve.

“The challenge for the Army Reserve is that we are not an installation-based force,” Sullivan said. “We are geographically dispersed throughout the United States. As we look at our master planning, we’re trying to figure out where is the best place for us to amass our charging infrastructure to match with our charging vehicles we are rolling out.”

About two years ago, the Army Reserve started a concept that will move into full production early this fiscal year, with the help of military and industry partners, along with the California Energy Commission. At two locations in California, the Army Reserve set up two different types of chargers that would charge government-owned and privately-owned vehicles. The chargers are recognized as tenants, allowing the Reserve to project utility charges, pre-fund costs and adjust as time goes on to make up for the difference. Those who charge their privately owned vehicles pay a percentage of operational costs, maintenance and other fees, but are still paying less to charge than they would pay off base. Some of these funds generated go into an escrow for sustainment, which will maintain systems over time.

“This has been a great success,” said Sullivan “We are sharing lessons learned across the Department of Defense and also the executive branch.”

Partnerships between the government and industry have been critical. The Army currently has 179 active energy savings performance contracts and utility energy savings contracts, valued at $2.1 billion, and 22 projects in development. The service also uses Inter-Governmental Support Agreements, which are partnerships with local and state governments for the provision, receipt or sharing of installation and community support services.

“Expanding the third party financing efforts is a critical piece of our strategy as we continue to grow capability and partner with industry for best practices,” Mosher said.

The Army also works with industry to leverage innovative solutions and emerging technologies.

“As we expand capability in artificial intelligence, partnering with industry, learning new technology and bringing into our day-to-day operational landscape is critical to success as we continue to move forward with these initiatives,” Mosher said.