Navy and Marine Corps Sign Lease For Energy Solution In San Diego

SAN DIEGO – Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) signed a lease with Bright Canyon Energy (BCE) on April 15 to provide a full-base energy resilience solution for Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) San Diego.

“The project will leverage the private sector to provide full-base resilience to meet our energy security objectives,” said Brig. Gen. Ryan Heritage, MCRD San Diego commanding general. “The installation is an essential training facility on the West Coast where the next generation of Marines is made each day. This is another example of our enduring and long-standing relationship with the San Diego community that has developed over the last 100 years.”

The long-term Enhanced Use Lease (EUL) grants the developer rights to utilize a plot of unencumbered land within the MCRD perimeter to construct, operate, and maintain the microgrid system, comprised of battery energy storage and backup generators.

“BCE will employ innovative microgrid technology to ensure that any fluctuation in power quality and grid anomalies are immediately detected, and the system will have the ability to seamlessly and automatically transition to backup power if necessary,” added Andrew Baughman, NAVFAC Southwest energy program director.

The agreement also allows the Department of the Navy (DoN) to access the generated power as a backup in case of an outage of the local electrical grid, securing the installation’s mission readiness when training Marine recruits.

“The project will maximize battery energy storage and distribution at the site, while also providing MCRD with sufficient and assured energy needed to continue its mission,” said Capt. Mike Oestereicher, NAVFAC Southwest commanding officer.

As in-kind consideration, the installation will receive autonomous microgrid capability to access the battery energy storage in the event of a utility grid outage as well as backup generators for DoN’s exclusive use. The battery energy storage, supplemented with the backup prime movers, would isolate and keep MCRD San Diego operations online to support its operational mission for extended periods.

The project will increase energy resilience to MCRD San Diego, as well as a business opportunity for the developer. This is the first project awarded from NAVFAC’s newly established Real Estate Business Line.

The MCRD lease signing is the third in a series of EULs NAVFAC is working with the BCE team that started with a successfully completed project at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma. BCE’s affiliate, Arizona Public Service Company, provided the Marine Corps’ premiere aviation training base with backup power and automated switching, which has resulted in the mitigation of more than 180 power disruptions, directly improving MCAS Yuma’s mission readiness. DoN and BCE’s second project is the development of an energy resilience solution at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, detachment Norco pursuant to an EUL.

MCRD anticipates the project will be underway within the next quarter, with in-kind consideration completion slated for 2024. Between now and 2024, the developer will be working on surveys, permitting, utility interconnection and market offtake. The National Environmental Policy Act process was completed on this project in 2020. The lease will extend into September 2056, ensuring energy resilience to the installation throughout this period.

NAVFAC Southwest personnel supports its clients with services in planning, design, construction, real estate, environmental and public works for U.S. Navy shore facilities, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, and other federal agencies in California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, and Colorado.