Monday, July 20, 2020

SoCalGas Deployes Bloom Energy Microgrids In LA

Southern California Gas Co., the natural gas provider for much of Southern California, said last week that it has deployed two, Bloom Energy microgrids in the Los Angeles area. According to the company, it has begun powering two of its largest Los Angeles area facilities with Bloom Energy solid oxide fuel cells. Those Bloom Energy fuel cells reduce greenhouse gas emissions, air pollutants, and can produce energy independent of the power grid. Fuel cells are used to take natural gas to create electricity; those systems are being used by companies to generate on-site power from their natural gas systems, instead of relying on the electric grid. SoCalGas says the use of fuel cells at its facility will reduce its carbon emissions by 683 metric tons per year compared to the current grid profile. The two sites are at Monterey Park and Pico Rivera. The gas utility says, in addition to the two new fuel cell sytsems, it currently uses solar generation at 6 of its 113 facilities.