Gridtractor-Led Farm Electrification Consortium Awarded California Energy Commission Grant for 'Vehicle-to-Building Technologies'

On-Farm Mobile Microgrid
Tractors charge and discharge to use inexpensive, clean power and supply it to irrigation pumps and the grid when prices are high or during power outages.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) awarded a $3 million grant to accelerate the electrification of agricultural equipment and demonstrate the ability of batteries in on-farm equipment to keep critical electrical loads running during power outages that are occurring with greater frequency due to wildfires.

In addition to emergency scenarios, the consortium will develop and demonstrate technology to enable farmers to employ tractors to respond to conditions on the power grid by charging and discharging batteries to supply irrigation pumps and other on-farm loads, in response to dynamic prices and demand response events. The consortium will develop hardware, software and communications technologies to link tractors and charging equipment to fleet operation centers and grid management systems.

"Farm equipment electrification can provide dramatic savings for growers and enable them to take control of their energy," says David Meyers, CEO of Gridtractor. "For the grid, agriculture is one sector in California with the electrical infrastructure already in place to support rapid EV adoption. With the backing of the CEC, this project will support building, deploying and testing the technologies required to take advantage of that opportunity."

"With grid shutdowns, hardworking farmers lose significant time, resources, and money in a business where America's growers already struggle to see the profits of their hard labor," says Praveen Penmetsa, CEO and co-founder of Monarch Tractor. "Our tractor's ability to provide exportable power and act as a mobile generator will help keep the lights on for California's farms even when the grid is down."

"It makes all the sense in the world to make sure that these big investments we're making on the transportation side also do double duty as grid reliability. And the amount of torque you need for a tractor, it's perfect for batteries," said Commissioner Andrew McAllister in the CEC August Business Meeting.

"We look forward to trying the Monarch MK-V in the field and seeing how it works with the Rhombus charging gear and Gridtractor system. Cleaner, cheaper power for our equipment is a win-win for our customers and California's agricultural industry," said Don Cameron, Vice President and General Manager of Terranova Ranch.

"All of Talley Vineyards' electrical loads are run off the electrical grid, which means that a power shutoff event can have a catastrophic impact on vineyard operations," said Dave Terry, Vineyard Manager. "For this reason, Talley Vineyards is eager to deploy technologies that increase reliability of power supply. We look forward to participating in this project."

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