Shell International Exploration & Production Company has chosen Black & Veatch to conduct engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) on a new microgrid system at Shell Technology Center in Houston.
The microgrid will integrate solar photovoltaic with reciprocating engine fueled with natural gas and battery storage technology to design a sustainable, resilient, and flexible microgrid system.
The new microgrid will contain Black & Veatch’s ASSET360 data analytics platform and is designed to to accommodate additional resources in the future.
As a collaborative research undertaken by Shell and Black & Veatch, the microgrid will be a platform for development and deployment of next generation of clean and resilient energy technologies.
The ASSET360 platform will enable Shell operators to optimize operation based on energy demand, solar production and other parameters and will also offer details on the performance of the microgrid.
The Shell Technology Center Houston (STCH) includes over 2000 Shell scientists, technologists and engineers to evaluate current and future energy challenges.
Black & Veatch project manager Dustin Rogge said: “The Shell microgrid will provide an excellent platform for demonstrating and developing resilient and sustainable power generation systems. This microgrid will feature Black & Veatch’s data analytics and visualization platform, ASSET360.
“The ASSET360® Microgrid, Issues Management and Performance Monitoring Applications will provide Shell with industry leading performance monitoring, warranty issue support, distributed energy resource management, and research data visualization.”
Shell International Exploration and Production general manager for Long Range Research & New Energy Technologies Ajay Mehta said: “The STCH Microgrid will enable us to do hands-on research and develop solutions to complex renewable energy system integration challenges.
“These solutions will enable Shell to leverage the value of renewable energy, accelerate its integration into existing Shell operations and beyond, and further drive the adoption of more and cleaner energy solutions for the future.”