April 5, 2021

Energy Resilient Medical Facility Rises from Ashes of 2018 Fire

Adventist Health announced the completion of a solar and microgrid project at their medical facility in Paradise, California. The new, integrated system will deliver clean energy while ensuring energy resiliency to serve the community during public safety power shutoff (PSPS) events. The hospital was heavily damaged by the 2018 Camp Fire, one of the most destructive in California's history.

Adventist Health partnered with ENGIE North America at the  Feather River Health Care facility to add a one-megawatt hour energy storage system combined with 425 kilowatts of solar and a new, permanent backup generator.

"After our Feather River hospital was severely damaged, we wanted to provide better reliability to the community, with new solutions that would allow us to be fully operational during any future power outages, said Tim Williams, Administrative Director, Physician & Outpatient Services, Adventist Health, in a statement. "Building long-term resiliency is key in this region, impacted by risk of natural disasters and subsequent PSPS events. As energy reliability and resiliency planning become paramount across the United States, we are gratified by the outcome of this project, but more importantly proud of the immediate impact it will provide the ridge community."

In case of a power outage, the microgrid controller system will isolate the facility from the grid. Solar energy will power the facility, the energy storage system, and the generator, thereby creating a microgrid. The microgrid will use its internal battery storage to stabilize the facility loads. It will also control the generation from both the solar system and the 250 kW permanent generator, allowing Adventist Health to maintain a consistent energy source to the facility during the outage. The transfer of power from the utility to the microgrid happens in less than one second, creating a seamless transfer.

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