I just counted….In the last 17 calls/meetings I have had, the words
Mini-grid has been mentioned 15 times; in the last 3 blogs I have
published, 2 have talked about Mini /Nano-grid. The Huffington Post
talks about it, Bloomberg talks about it, the International Energy
Agency talks about it, and even as I write this blog I can see an email
from a colleague on a Micro-grid webinar.

It almost sounds like a
transitory fashion, but I can assure you that is not. The market of the
Mini/Micro/ Nano-grid is here to stay! Thus, I find it imperative to
explain not only why the “fuss” about them, but what are they and how
exactly would a Methanol Fuel Cell-powered Mini-Grid work.

1) Mini/Micro/Nano, what are they?

In
plain words, they replicate the model of a large centralized
electricity grid but on a smaller scale. They are ideal for islands,
rural villages or towns that are isolated from the centralized grid.
Usually houses, businesses, farms, educational institutions, hospitals
that benefit from them, are located relatively close to each other. They
are also known as decentralized power generation.

2) Are Direct Methanol Fuel Cells ideal for Mini/Micro/Nano-grids?Mini micro nano

They help solve three problems with one technology: Energy, Waste and Water

Methanol
fuel cells provide reliable and clean stand-alone power that can be
distributed through these small scale electricity grids at a very
attractive and competitive LCOE.

Methanol fuel cells operate with
methanol, which can be manufactured locally using waste or agricultural
residues as feedstock (yes! It can help solve the waste and sanitation
problems in cities and towns).

Finally, Methanol Fuel Cells have
water as an output; therefore each unit will generate a proportional
amount of pure water a day, which can certainly be useful in towns that
have no access to drinking water.

3) What are the potential markets?

As mentioned in [an earlier post]
mini/micro/nano grids represent a solution for giving access to energy
to the 1.2 billion located in rural Africa or Asia, that are not
connected to the large centralized electricity grid.

In addition, they can also be useful for giving access to electricity to islands and other remote locations.

4) What happens now?

We
are embarking on a journey to unravel this fascinating field of
Decentralized Power Generation, where those that have never thought of
having access to electricity in their homes, schools or hospitals, will
finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Stay tuned…

This is an abridged blog post. For the original post, please visit http://bit.ly/1iukO8j