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Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos held a long-awaited groundbreaking ceremony for its Energy Resilience Project, a major step forward for the Army Climate Strategy, which aims to build a microgrid on every installation by 2035.
The 100-acre microgrid at JFTB Los Alamitos is expected to be completed by summer 2023. The microgrid itself will be constructed, owned, and operated by Bright Canyon Energy, which will sell the energy it creates during normal operations to San Diego Gas & Electric via Southern California Edison.
The project will produce 26 megawatts of electricity, plus a 20 megawatt/40 megawatt-hour battery system and 3 megawatts of backup generators and could provide power for critical missions at the base for a minimum of 14 days in the event of an electrical grid outage during a major incident, such as a natural disaster.
“Joint Forces Training Base serves as the primary emergency management hub for the California National Guard in Southern California in support of a population base of approximately 18 million people. The Guard’s ability to execute this critical mission is predicated on our access to on-site renewable generation that this project provides us to support large-scale emergency response operations,” Lt. Col Vig remarked in an earlier statement.
As the center of disaster relief to Southern California, JFTB Los Alamitos is host to the regional offices of the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), further emphasizing the need for energy resilience in the face of natural disaster.
Dignitaries at the groundbreaking event included: Paul Farnan, Principal Deputy, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Istallations, Energy & Environment; Major General Micahel Leeney, Commanding General of the 40th Infantry Division of the California National Guard which is based out of JFTB Los Alamitos; JFTB Garrison Commander Lieutenant Colonel Manju Vig; Mr. Bob Smith, President of Bright Canyon Energy; Ms. Stephanie Kline, Project Director, United States Army Corps of Engineers Office of Energy Initiatives; and Mr. Anthony Marasa, Project Manager, Bright Canyon Energy. Representatives of the City of Los Alamitos and neighboring communities also attended.
