U.S. Army, Fort Bragg – Kory Nelson – 2019

Goals 

Ft. Bragg is a large military base supporting over 50,000 active duty personnel. The U.S. Army has a directive to make their energy systems more resilient with the goal of being energy independent for a minimum of 14 days. The U.S. Army Garrison Fort Bragg enlisted Kory Nelson to develop cost-effective resiliency projects to assist critical areas on base.

Solutions

Ft. Bragg conducted a power outage exercise that identified opportunities for improvement to 225 critical facilities’ emergency electricity generation systems, water infrastructure, and wastewater infrastructure.Nelson analyzed the power outage exercise results which identified water and wastewater systems as an opportunity for improvement. After connecting with the local water management company, it was determined that the system operates in series and will only benefit from strategic resiliency options. Nelson researched solar resilience for individual pumps and tying in stations to existing generators to create microgrids. Another resilience option tested was a power quality software that reduces heat and energy loss on electrical components from poor quality power. This software showed promise of increasing power quality but long-term effects of extended service life of components to support resilience could not be determined from the short-term testing.

Potential Impact

Nelson’s recommended resilience options for water and wastewater have the potential to extend operation as long as the alternative fuels supplies last on base. These potential projects would enable seamless operation of Ft. Bragg in the event of an outage and reduce risk to critical missions by being capable of providing necessary energy and water for 14 days.