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UCSD Microgrid

Current status, energy mix, organizations, suppliers, equipment, controls, reported specifications, and project updates—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations24
System facts38
Sources reviewed14
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

UC San Diego operates a mature, island-capable campus microgrid, but its current configuration is materially different from the older project profile often repeated online. The present backbone is a 30 MW natural-gas combined-heat-and-power plant, more than 2.8 MW of solar PV, thermal storage, and campus controls; a 2.8 MW biogas fuel cell was retired in 2023 and the old 2.5 MW/5 MWh lithium-ion battery is being decommissioned. A 2024 award announced a 10 MW/40 MWh replacement battery, while an April 2026 California filing describes the project as 8 MW/32 MWh and not yet commissioned. DERConnect is a separate, nested research testbed on the campus with about 0.5 MW/1 MWh of batteries, power-hardware-in-the-loop infrastructure, EV charging, and its own islanding controls; it should not be confused with the capacity of the campus utility microgrid.

Research status
Operational campus microgrid; former fuel cell retired and former battery being decommissioned. Replacement BESS is in development/permitting, with the latest public scope 8 MW/32 MWh and no evidence of commissioning as of the research date. DERConnect is an operational research facility within the broader campus system.
Historical classification
University
Reported capacity
43,000 kW
Coordinates
32.88006, -117.23401
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.
Report missing evidenceResearch methodology

Project delivery

Who was involved in UCSD Microgrid?

24 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

AES

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

BMW

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

BYD

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

California Energy Commission

Awarded $7.15 million in 2024 toward storage modernization and hosts the 2026 environmental filing for the revised battery project. [8][9]

Organization

Dynapower

Bidirectional inverter supplier [3]

Organization

Eagle Eye Power Solutions

Programmable load-bank supplier [3]

Organization

Eos

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

FuelCell Energy

Supplied the former 2.8 MW molten-carbonate fuel-cell plant, which operated from 2011 to 2020 and was decommissioned in 2023. [10][11]

Organization

Great Power

Battery supplier [3]

Organization

KORE Power

Battery supplier [3]

Organization

KORE Power, Great Power, Kronus Engineering, Skeleton Technologies, EPC Power, Dynapower and Oztek

Battery, ultracapacitor, rack and inverter suppliers represented in the DERConnect research testbed; these assets are not the campus-scale replacement BESS. [7]

Organization

Kronus Engineering

Battery-rack and ultracapacitor integration supplier [3]

Organization

Lightsail

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

Maxwell Labs

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

MCV

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

Minsait ACS

Supplier of the Onesait DERMS used in DERConnect. [7]

Organization

NRG

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

Oztek

Inverter supplier [3]

Organization

San Diego Gas & Electric

Interconnecting utility; the campus 12 kV system is downstream of a jointly used 69 kV SDG&E/UCSD substation. [9]

Organization

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories

Supplied the PowerMAX microgrid controller and a broad suite of protection, automation, communications, and synchronization equipment. [12][13]

Organization

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL)

Microgrid controller and protection supplier [3]

Organization

Skeleton Technologies

Ultracapacitor supplier [3]

Organization

UCSD

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

University of California San Diego

Owner/operator of the campus energy system and host/operator of DERConnect. [5][6][7]

System evidence

Energy mix, capacity, and specifications

Values can describe different project phases, generation sources, storage systems, or other components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

KW Solar
3000 [1]
KW Gas/Diesel
27000 [1]
KW Fuel Cell
2800 KW [1]
Storage
3/5 MW/MWH [1]
Campus cogeneration
30 MW natural-gas cogeneration [4]
Campus peak load
Approximately 55 MW [4]
DERConnect laboratory storage
Five lithium-ion batteries totaling 0.5 MW / 1 MWh, plus ultracapacitor [3]
Campus peak demand
55 MW — Current UCSD energy-storage pages describe the campus as a 55 MW microgrid serving roughly 60,000 people and using about 350,000 MWh annually. [5][6]
Natural-gas CHP
30 MW — Current backbone of the campus system. UCSD says cogeneration supplies about 70% of campus electricity; this is a current order-of-magnitude mix statement, not a complete audited annual generation balance. [6][9]
Campus solar PV
>2.8 MW — Distributed across campus. Some older UCSD material rounds this to 3 MW. [5][9]
Thermal storage
3.8 million gallons — Current UCSD page value. Older institutional material has reported more than 8 million gallons, so tank scope or accounting has changed and the figures should not be merged. [5][14]
Former campus lithium-ion BESS
2.5 MW / 5 MWh — A decade-old system now described in the 2026 filing as being decommissioned; it is not current available capacity. [8][9][14]
Replacement campus BESS
8 MW / 32 MWh latest filed scope — The September 2024 award announcement stated 10 MW/40 MWh. The April 2026 environmental filing revised the design to 8 MW/32 MWh at the same interconnection. Treat 10/40 as the earlier announced scope, not additive capacity. [8][9]
Planned RedoxBlox thermal storage
10 MWh — Announced for 2026; public sources reviewed do not confirm commissioning. [8][11]
Former biogas fuel cell
2.8 MW — Molten-carbonate FuelCell Energy unit. UCSD says the research project operated 2011-2020, and a CEC document says the plant was decommissioned in 2023. [10][11]
DERConnect electrochemical storage
approximately 0.5 MW / 1.0 MWh across five systems — Research assets: 250 kW/332 kWh KORE NMC, 125 kW/221 kWh KORE NMC, 125 kW/376 kWh Great Power LFP, two 40 kW/72.5 kWh Kronus racks, and a 125 kW/28 kWh ultracapacitor system. Power ratings are not necessarily simultaneously dispatchable and should not be rolled into the campus replacement BESS. [7]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

01

Microgrid controller

SEL — PowerMAX

Supports islanding, black start, resynchronization, remote switching, and phasor/waveform collection. [3]

02

Battery energy storage #2

KORE Power — Dynapower MPS-125 inverter

125 kW / 221 kWh at 480 VAC; NMC/graphite lithium-ion chemistry; grid-forming and black-start capable. [3]

03

Battery energy storage #3

Great Power — Dynapower MPS-125 EHV inverter

125 kW / 376 kWh at 480 VAC; lithium iron phosphate chemistry. [3]

04

Battery energy storage #4 and #5

Kronus Engineering — Oztek inverters

Two independent 40 kW / 72.5 kWh, 480 VAC NMC/graphite racks sharing controls and an enclosure. [3]

05

Ultracapacitor

Kronus Engineering / Skeleton Technologies — Dynapower MPS-125 EHV inverter

125 kW / 28 kWh at 480 VAC with a 60-second charge/discharge rating. [3]

06

Programmable RLC load bank

Eagle Eye Power Solutions

500 kVA apparent power; 400 kW resistive and 300 kvar each inductive/capacitive maximum. [3]

07

Switchgear

Model not publicly disclosed

480 V and 208 V buses rated 1,200 A; the 208 V bus connects through a 500 kVA transformer. [3]

08

Microgrid controls

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories — PowerMAX built around SEL-3354/3355 with RTAC, communications, protection and synchronization devices

Quantity/status: System-wide; more than 100 SEL devices reported — Supports islanding, critical-load shedding, black-start sequencing and resynchronization. Detailed case material lists SEL-3530 RTAC, 2411, 2730M, 3031, 3354, 3355, 3378, 5078-2, 311L, 751, 487B, 587Z and 700G devices. [12][13]

09

DERConnect batteries and inverters

KORE Power / Great Power / Kronus Engineering; EPC Power / Dynapower / Oztek — PD-250, MPS-125 and associated research racks

Quantity/status: Five storage systems — Includes NMC, LFP and ultracapacitor technologies; the 250 kW KORE/EPC system is explicitly island-capable and supports black start. [7]

10

DERConnect grid simulator and switchgear

Various — 500 kVA Eagle Eye load bank; 480 V and 208 V 1,200 A switchgear; 500 kVA transformer

Quantity/status: Research facility equipment — Also includes eight SEL-751 PMUs, roughly 236 submeters, about 2,000 edge nodes and extensive EV charging infrastructure. [7]

Technical record

Architecture, performance, and project updates

Concise technical facts, milestones, operating results, and later developments. Dated notes distinguish historical design claims from current evidence.

  • Storage

    30 KW Panasonic Project, one of first community storage projects in country [1]

  • Storage

    35 KWH Energy Storage project with MCV Energy [1]

  • Storage

    100KW/300KWH Zinc/Bromine battery research [1]

  • Storage

    Second Life EV Storage Research [1]

  • Storage

    ARPAe CHARGES Laboratory and Microgrid Demonstration of Advanced Energy Storage Batteries ($ 3.3 M, 4 yr., ARPA-E) [1]

  • Storage

    2.5 MW, 5 Mwh, Advanced Energy Storage, Lithium-ion from BYD (SGIP-CPUC) [1]

  • Storage

    28 kW, Maxwell Labs, Ultra Capacitors, Smoothing of PV intermittency, coupled with solar forecasting (CEC) [1]

  • Storage

    EoS 2x 4 kW, 2x 15 kW, Zynth, Behind the Meter Applications(CEC) [1]

  • Architecture and islanding

    The main microgrid is a campus 12 kV distribution system downstream of a 69 kV utility/campus substation. SEL controls enable intentional islanding, critical-load prioritization, black-start sequencing and resynchronization. DERConnect has its own sectionalized test infrastructure and should be treated as a nested laboratory rather than a second 55 MW system. [7][9][12][13]

  • Energy mix and self-supply claims

    UCSD's current public pages say the microgrid generates 92% of annual campus electricity and that natural-gas cogeneration supplies about 70%. The balance is solar, imported grid electricity and possibly other campus resources. Because the biogas fuel cell is retired and the old battery is being removed, older resource lists cannot be used as a current mix. The 92% figure is a university claim rather than a published recent interval-data audit. [5][6][10][11]

  • Storage project timeline

    UCSD announced a CEC-supported 10 MW/40 MWh lithium-ion replacement in September 2024, originally targeting the second half of 2025. The April 2026 state environmental filing instead describes an 8 MW/32 MWh replacement delivered through a public-private partnership and the former BESS being decommissioned. No reviewed source establishes commercial operation, so the replacement remains a development asset. [8][9]

  • Data-quality cautions

    Published thermal-storage volume ranges from 3.8 million gallons on the current microgrid page to more than 8 million gallons in older UCSD material. Replacement battery scope changed from 10 MW/40 MWh to 8 MW/32 MWh. These are time/scope conflicts, not capacities to add together. [5][8][9][14]

Provenance

14 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2020-10-20

  2. [2]
  3. [3]
    DERConnect Virtual Tour

    University of California San Diego · Primary source

  4. [4]
    Energy Storage and Microgrid Laboratories

    University of California San Diego · Primary source

  5. [5]
    UC San Diego Microgrid

    UC San Diego · Primary source

  6. [6]
    UC San Diego Energy Storage Labs

    UC San Diego · Primary source

  7. [7]
    DERConnect Virtual Tour

    UC San Diego DERConnect · Primary source

  8. [8]
  9. [9]
    UC San Diego Battery Energy Storage System Replacement Project (SCH 2026040432)

    California Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation · Primary source

  10. [10]
  11. [11]
    RedoxBlox Thermochemical Energy Storage Demonstration

    California Energy Commission · Primary source

  12. [12]
    UC San Diego Microgrid Highlight

    Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories · Primary source

  13. [13]
    UC San Diego Microgrid Control System Case Study

    Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories · Primary source

  14. [14]
    How Microgrids Could Help Rebuild Puerto Rico's Power Grid

    UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering · Primary source

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