Allan Schurr Chief Commercial Officer of Enchanted Rock spoke on November 16

Snowstorm in Texas

During the last decade extreme weather events such as floods, hurricanes, floods have resulted in grid outages throughout the world. In 2019 according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) there were 14 climate events that caused $ 1 billion dollars in damage. The inability of large scale city grid operators, mostly with aging equipment and infrastructure,  to respond to overwhelming events that knock out key generating units, transmission and  distribution points has created space in the electrical energy market  for a new generation of microgrid companies

These companies work on the basis that most grids in the US are old and are unable to respond to the sudden impact of extreme weather emergencies with like snow ice and flooding as they did in the past.

Enchanted Rock, based in Houston, is a company that provides turnkey microgrids as solutions to the need for resilient power. Since 2009 it has helped develop 200 microgrids ranging in size from 1 to 50 MW per site. The total amount of power produced is 463 MW. The company has worked under extreme weather conditions from hurricanes and flooding to sub zero temperatures. Their mission is to provide power for essential service and provide a resilient back up power option for utilities.

According to Enchanted Rock Chief Commercial Office Alan Schuur, who spoke at the RRH Zoom forum on November 16, self contained microgrids provide power in emergencies to data centers, grocery and distribution centers, healthcare centers, critical infrastructure like water, manufacturing and utilities. . Enchanted Rock uses natural gas to power its back up micrgrids because it is significantly cleaner and quieter than diesel.

Some examples from Texas;

In 2020 during Hurricane Hanna in 2020 in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas Enchanted Rock operated 29 microgrids for 49 hours, supporting grocery stores and refueling centers.

In 2021 as a result of Hurricane Uri, in the Southern Plains Enchanted Rock operated 206 microgrids, 142 on sites without power for up to 3 days. They were supporting water, healthcare, manufacturing and groceries. Their other mission was to provide essential grid support services.

Enchanted Rock is moving towards a transition providing full renewable energy but at the present time they have found that a hybrid solution works best; they primarily make use of natural gas because renewable energy  from solar and other sources is not reliable 100%.