E.ON and Hover to develop smart microgrid concepts for cities

E.ON UK and Hover Energy have today announced plans to develop and deploy a series of advanced, smart microgrid projects aiming to meet the growing demand for more affordable and sustainable power in our cities.

Hover Energy is a Dallas-based company that develops technologies that combine rooftop wind and solar power sources with advanced energy management systems to create resilient, self-sustaining power systems that can reduce carbon footprints and energy costs.

Hover’s core product is the Wind-Powered Microgrid™, a system that integrates multiple renewable energy sources to create an independent power supply. Their approach aims to make microgrids the primary source of energy, shifting away from more traditional and centralised electricity grids, helping to bypass the need for often costly transmission lines and large infrastructure. 

The partnership will explore innovative ways to modernise parts of the local electricity network, making use of digital communications, renewable energy sources on community buildings, and smart meter data that can balance supply and demand on local energy networks in real time, all of which can make energy more affordable for consumers. 

The collaboration will initially focus on the London Borough of Newham, building on other successful projects in the area, such as E.ON’s solar sharing community energy project in Canning Town, and the UK’s first development of E.ON’s pioneering ectogrid heating and cooling network at Silvertown.

Phil McDermott, Cities Partnership Lead at E.ON, said: “One of the benefits of a microgrid is you’ve got solar when the sun is shining, roof-mounted wind turbines for power for when the wind is blowing, and batteries to store excess power ready for when it’s needed. Working with Hover we have an opportunity to create a ‘living lab’ where renewable energy, smart grids, and storage solutions work together seamlessly – combining the best elements of a range of technologies into a local energy system that can create a new energy-independent way of life.” 

“We’re on a mission to turn the built environment into a power source, one site at a time,” said Hover CEO & Founder Chris Griffin. “Most of the current renewables approaches worldwide are focused on massive scale. While that is admirable, the greatest resilience and security is clearly created through distributed generation models. Our collaboration with E.ON is designed to prove the concept of a future-focused power system so we can draw a map towards modernising our distributed grid system.” 

In such a system, consumers have easier access to their own data through things like electric vehicles, automated home appliances, and battery storage; with the ability to respond instantly to changes in supply and demand – potentially allowing them to sell excess energy back to the grid. 

Microgrids offer more than the obvious green energy benefits, they can also tap unused space to deliver: 

1. Lower, fairer bills: by generating and using energy within the community, reducing reliance on the main grid and lower energy costs by sharing lower-cost energy nearer to where it is produced
2. Energy security: microgrids provide resilience against power outages, crucial for critical facilities and businesses. It also allows the grid to make better use of weather-dependent renewable energy sources, and reduces dependency on imported fossil fuels and volatile global markets  
3. Economic benefits and green jobs: microgrids support the transition to a more flexible, decentralised energy infrastructure – creating and supporting a whole new sector of high-quality green collar jobs and skills for the future  
4. Decarbonisation: renewables-based microgrids can ease our impact on the planet by reducing our reliance on fossil fuels whilst helping businesses and other organisations needing to meet carbon reduction targets and demonstrate environmental responsibility 
5. Capacity: microgrids with significant production capacity also have the sought-after result of freeing up additional capacity on the existing local network. When individual sites dramatically reduce demand, that capacity becomes available for other use.

The UK's built environment has significant green energy potential, particularly from rooftop solar, which is projected to provide an additional 9-10GW of Britain’s electricity needs by 2030.  

The Government's target for total installed solar capacity is 45-57 GW by 2030, requiring a significant increase in the current 18.1GW capacity, contributing to the aim for low-carbon power sources to meet 95% of electricity generation by 2030.