JFK International Airport, Bergen Substation Microgrid Assessment & Preliminary Design
This substation provides power to the jet fuel depot and other supporting critical airport infrastructure and buildings. Power supplied to Bergen originates at Con Edison’s overloaded Brownsville Substation in Brooklyn. To alleviate overloading, Con Ed is pursuing and incentivizing distributed energy projects in power congested areas of Brooklyn and Queens as part of the “Brooklyn-Queens Demand Management” (BQDM) initiative.
The goal of the project was to determine if on-site generation could accomplish multiple benefits for the airport’s owner, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), while also providing peak load relief to the Brownsville Substation. Anticipated benefits to PANYNJ include cost savings, operational continuity in case of a utility outage, and revenues from participating in the New York State power markets as administered by the NY Independent System Operator (NYISO). After extensive analysis, Burns recommended a 13.1 MW generating station that would offset approximately 5 MW of daily load, and opportunistically export an additional 8 MW back onto Con Ed’s grid based on hourly NYISO power markets, specifically the Real-Time market. This approach takes advantage of new regulatory rules allowing small behind-the-meter generators the ability to serve customer loads and export excess power at wholesale rates. Burns performed the following as part of this project:
- Evaluated hourly load data to develop daily, seasonal and yearly load profiles of the Bergen SS
- Conceived of various configurations and sizes based on load profiles and desired functionality
- Reviewed and developed grid-interconnection approach based on Con Ed requirements
- Completed a preliminary electrical design
- Developed project cost estimates and schedule
- Evaluated the air-permitting process, impact on schedule and potential risk
- Assessed and modeled cost saving and various potential revenue streams from participation in the NYISO energy markets (Behind-the-Meter: Net Generation, Real-Time, and Capacity)
- Performed 20-year life-cycle analysis for multiple scenarios
