Enhancing Energy Resilience in Navy Region Southwest: Bridging Capability and Capacity Gaps With Modern Technologies and Utility Acquisition Approaches

Abstract

Naval installations and defense communities are Centers of Gravity (COGs), enabling missions across warfare enterprises. However, they’re susceptible to interruptions due to vulnerable, deteriorating energy infrastructure, lack of distributed energy resources, rapidly growing demand for power, and reliance on the existing utilities’ central “macro-grid” that cannot meet surging demands for high quality electric power. These difficulties underscore the need for prompt and innovative energy solutions that are secure, affordable, and acceptable. This paper explores the multifaceted challenges and opportunities faced by defense energy managers and public works professionals in understanding predominant capability and capacity gaps and the planning and acquisition of utilities from integrated defense community energy systems to address them. This study combines guidelines from Commander, Navy Installations Command, to create educational content for energy managers and a thorough framework for installation energy and utility gap identification and mitigation, incorporating modern applications of technologies such as interconnected microgrids and Digital Twins (DTs). This study offers focused solutions inspired by effective deployments of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). It also introduces a four-level engineering and institutional planning and project delivery methodology. For wider use across Navy installations, the conclusions seek to ensure operational resilience and scalability at selected installations.