Military bases as isolated energy units: the latest trends in energy management

If there is one thing a military base needs, it is security. Therefore, bases must be conceived, designed and built as isolated power units that do not compromise either the supply of energy or resources, or the safety of peopleThis is especially important when bases are located in remote places or are part of international operations. Most of them rely almost exclusively on the use of diesel-powered generators due to the non-existence or unreliability of local power grids.

Although this is a mobile and robust technology adapted to the military environment, its use entails the need to transport large quantities of fuel over sometimes unsafe routes and the entry and exit of external personnel to and from the base, as well as having an environmental impact. In addition, it requires the installation of redundant generators to act in case of failure or maintenance of the rest and this causes an oversizing of the generation capacity and low energy efficiency.

How to meet these challenges, how to make military bases more efficient and able to operate completely independently without compromising the security of the military base and the people who live there? By understanding them as energy islands, i.e. as isolated microgrids that operate independently.

In this context, renewable energies play a key role in the field of generation which, in combination with developments in areas such as storage, new fuels and sustainable architecture, constitutes a solution to these challenges. Moreover, this approach is perfectly aligned with one of the objectives set by the National Defense Directive and the Defense Technology and Innovation Strategy: to foster an innovative defense industry, which boosts development and innovation.

To properly size the renewable energy generation proposal, it is first necessary to perform a thorough analysis of how the base is consuming energy according to its characteristics, its consumption profile and available equipment. It is also very important to make a forecast and profile of the energy demand.

This prior information is vital to propose energy saving measures and efficient design solutions through the optimization of this consumption. Mainly in everything related to the thermal envelope, lighting and air conditioning, the areas that have a major influence on energy management.

How can this be achieved? Through energy monitoring of the entire base. Where is energy consumed? What operational parameters influence this consumption? How do aspects such as the weather affect it? What is the profile of the demand? These are questions that are answered in this first phase and provide the information needed to make the best decisions.

With this previous consumption optimization, the military base will be able to improve its energy efficiency and save costs without the need to undertake a large investment. With regard to the envelope, solutions such as bioclimatic design with PassivHaus standards, retrofitting roof insulation or the use of phase change materials can be very effective, as well as the use of materials and envelopes adapted to the target climatic environment. In the field of air conditioning, it is of vital importance to dimension the solution to adapt to the changing conditions of the environment. The same is true in the field of lighting, where presence control and control systems can be applied to make the most of natural light whenever possible.

Once this monitoring and audit is performed to optimize consumption, we will obtain a complete characterization of the total energy consumption that will allow us to predict future base demand based on its characteristics, dimensions and environments, and thus plan the generation. In this sense, theoretical simulations and learning from monitoring through machine learning are particularly useful tools.

After this first phase, we can now think about how to design a generation plan that must take into account the energy consumption and the expected profile, as well as adapt to the resources available in the target area. Although generators are essential to support generation, relying on them alone is a problem to ensure safety, since the base must be supplied with diesel fuel from outside.

The solution? To install renewable generation with modular photovoltaic or mini wind power equipment -or hybrid solutions- and with similar operating ranges in order to be able to transfer it to other bases, if necessary, with the occasional support of generators and storage. This will make it possible to operate as an energy microgrid and ensure supply without having to resort to an unknown and unreliable power grid in a foreign country.

Validation of modular microgrids by CIRCE in isolated off-grid environments

This approach has already been validated by the CIRCE technology center in real applications through projects such as Nazareth, ENERISLA and INSULAE. The first of these was developed in a remote location in Colombia, which operated with generators and no electricity service. To solve this problem, the project installed two 100 kW wind turbines, a 100 kW photovoltaic park with tracking, a battery bank, which were integrated with three generators, in addition to the corresponding inverters, rectifiers and control system that was responsible for optimizing the management of the whole.

Energy management is one of the essential pillars on the road to achieving a sustainable and secure military base, but it shares importance with power grid management, waste management and cybersecurity. Creating circular waste management systems will allow the base not to depend on the outside and have the capacity to revalue them to turn them back into resources; or generating an electrical system that distributes medium voltage power within the base to minimize losses and overdimensions of wiring and pipelines due to the long distances could be new solutions to amplify the impact of the previous measures.

All this will contribute to position the Spanish defense sector as a leader in innovation in energy and resources and, specifically, to create sustainable, safe, connected and intelligent military bases aligned with the objectives of sustainable development.