Burns Designing Microgrid for New York Power Authority as Part of NY Prize Initiative
Burns is conducting a detailed engineering of an estimated 17 MW microgrid for the New York Power Authority, working on behalf of the Office of Mental Health. When complete, the microgrid will provide power reliability and resilience for a major central Brooklyn healthcare cluster along Clarkson Ave. The “Clarkson Avenue Microgrid” will serve Kingsboro Psychiatric Center, Kings County Hospital, and SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Together, these adjacent facilities have a total of 1,500 beds, serve almost 1 million patients per year, and treat approximately 4,000 emergency room visits per week. Located in a constrained area of the Con Edison distribution grid, this microgrid will help relieve pressure on a major electrical substation, and delays a $1 billion expansion project. Burns’ conceptual microgrid design, completed during Stage 1 NY Prize, combines energy efficiency measures, cogeneration, and renewable solar energy coupled with energy storage and smart grid technology to provide independent power to these critical facilities for up to two weeks in the event of a prolonged grid failure.