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Indian Head NWC

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

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations11
System facts24
Sources reviewed12
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

Naval Support Facility Indian Head progressed from a 2009–2010 Sandia energy-surety concept to a real 13.2 kV microgrid delivered under MILCON P-222 in 2015. The installed electrical resources are a 4.6 MW natural-gas combustion-turbine CHP plant and two 2.5 MW diesel standby generators, totaling 9.6 MW of on-site generation. A frequently cited '15 MW microgrid' label describes the served system/load class rather than generation nameplate. The Navy replaced the old coal-fired central steam plant with decentralized natural-gas steam plants and the CHP facility; in 2023 it privatized the base distribution system to SMECO while retaining the cogeneration plant.

Research status
Operational. The first islanding test occurred in August 2015, and a 2018 commissioning review documented corrective work after more than two years of operation. A 2023 NAVFAC utility-privatization award requires the Navy-owned cogeneration plant to remain able to feed the distribution system, providing the latest direct evidence of continuing microgrid capability, though no recent annual islanding or energy-performance statistics were found.
Historical classification
Military
Reported capacity
See component specifications
Coordinates
38.59850, -77.17047
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 Indian Head NWC?

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

Organization

Clark Construction

General contractor for the MILCON P-222 utility and energy project [8]

Organization

Defense Logistics Agency Energy

Federal contracting partner for the utility-privatization procurement [10]

Organization

Helios Electric

Microgrid systems integrator and Schweitzer-relay programming contractor [11]

Organization

Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command

Facilities authority, project oversight, and 2023 utilities-contracting authority [9][10]

Organization

Naval Support Facility Indian Head / U.S. Navy

Host, mission owner, and owner/operator of the cogeneration and standby resources [5][8][10]

Organization

NAVFAC Washington

Client and facilities delivery authority [3][4]

Organization

Sandia National Laboratories

Developed the earlier energy-surety microgrid conceptual design and consequence-based load analysis [5]

Organization

Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative

Electric utility and, under the 2023 award, long-term owner/operator of the privatized distribution system [10]

Organization

Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO)

Electric utility-system owner under a 50-year privatization contract awarded in 2023 [4]

Organization

U.S. Department of the Navy

Installation and energy-system owner [2]

Organization

Wiley|Wilson

Designer of the decentralized steam, cogeneration, electrical-distribution, protection, and microgrid-control systems [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.

Gas cogeneration
4.6 MW Strauss Plant [3]
Nodal steam plants
Seven natural-gas plants ranging from 200 hp to 750 hp [3]
Natural-gas CHP generation
4.6 MW combustion-turbine generator with heat-recovery steam generation at the Strauss cogeneration plant [6][8]
Diesel standby generation
Two 2.5 MW generator sets, totaling 5 MW [8]
Total on-site electric generation
9.6 MW; the 15 MW description used in project materials is not the sum of installed generators [8]
Microgrid voltage
13.2 kV distribution and islanded operation [7][8]
Utility service
Two 69/13.2 kV substation transformers on the SMECO interconnection [8]
Construction schedule
MILCON P-222 construction ran from approximately June 2013 to October 2015; the first temporary-configuration microgrid test occurred in August 2015 [8]
Decentralized steam
Seven natural-gas nodal plants rated approximately 200–750 boiler horsepower; these are thermal assets and should not be counted as electric generation [9][6]
Coal displacement
The previous central plant burned approximately 15,000 tons of coal per year before replacement [9]
Early emissions result
For the first ten months of the new decentralized steam system, the Navy reported total air pollution down 42% (about 300 tons), particulate matter and NOx down 28%, and SO2 down 44%; these are site steam-system results, not solely microgrid-electric savings [9]

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

Combustion-turbine CHP

Model not publicly disclosed

4.6 MW natural-gas combustion turbine and heat-recovery steam generator; manufacturer and model are not identified in the cited sources [6][8]

02

Standby generators

Model not publicly disclosed

Two 2.5 MW diesel generator sets; manufacturer and model are not disclosed [8]

03

Protection relays

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories

SEL protective relays programmed for coordinated utility-connected and island protection; exact model numbers are not disclosed [7][11]

04

Supervisory control

Model not publicly disclosed

Centralized SCADA and Utilities and Energy Management controls coordinate breakers, generators, load priorities, and islanding [7][8]

05

Control power

Model not publicly disclosed

Uninterruptible-power supplies were added or corrected so protective and fail-safe controls would remain functional through utility-loss events [8]

06

Steam plants

Model not publicly disclosed

Seven decentralized natural-gas boiler plants, approximately 200–750 hp each, plus the Strauss CHP steam output [9][6]

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.

  • Mission architecture

    The system can separate from the utility, prioritize and shed mission loads, synchronize local generators, and restore load as generation becomes available. [7][8]

  • Project lineage

    Sandia's 2009–2010 Energy Surety Microgrid work was a consequence-based conceptual design. The later P-222 construction documents the actual commissioned system and should be used for installed equipment. [5][8]

  • Generation-rating correction

    The installed generator arithmetic is 4.6 MW plus 5 MW, or 9.6 MW. The presentation's 15 MW microgrid label is best interpreted as a system or served-load rating, not generation nameplate. [8]

  • Commissioning findings

    The 2018 review found false breaker-failure indications, generator-availability and fuel-control problems, and a combustion-turbine trip following utility loss; control logic, recovery sequencing, UPS coverage, and turbine isolation were corrected. [8]

  • Distribution

    The base used overhead 13.2 kV delta distribution. Microgrid protection had to accommodate low fault current and different source configurations during island operation. [7][8]

  • 2023 utility privatization

    SMECO received a 50-year contract to own, operate, maintain, and modernize the electric distribution system. The Navy retained the cogeneration plant, which must continue to be capable of supplying the privatized network. [10]

  • Energy mix

    Normal electricity can come from the SMECO grid and the gas CHP plant; diesel provides standby/island support. The cited sources do not publish a current annual MWh or fuel-share breakdown. [8][10]

Provenance

12 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 2021-04-20

  2. [2]
  3. [3]
  4. [4]
    NAVFAC Washington awards utilities contract for NSF Indian Head

    Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command · Primary source

  5. [5]
    Indian Head Energy Surety Microgrid conceptual design

    Sandia National Laboratories / OSTI · Primary source

  6. [6]
  7. [7]
  8. [8]
    Commissioning a 15 MW Microgrid at Naval Support Facility Indian Head

    International District Energy Association / Wiley|Wilson · Primary source

  9. [9]
  10. [10]
  11. [11]
  12. [12]
    Indian Head NWC Microgrid (archived legacy record)

    Microgrid Projects / Internet Archive · Archived source

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