When a grid disturbance strikes, the R3Di System® responds in milliseconds. Its microgrid controller detects the voltage drop, isolates the facility from the utility, and redirects onsite power to the loads that need it most.
That response depends on a data network built to match the speed and reliability of the power network it supports. Moxa provides the industrial connectivity backbone behind the R3Di System.
“We are the trusted hardware platform that all (the system’s) software and controls run on,” Moxa Senior Business Development Manager Travis Crampton said.
Moxa is a global industrial networking and computing company with nearly four decades of experience building hardware for mission-critical environments, including data centers, offshore oil platforms, rail networks, manufacturers, and increasingly, utilities. The company’s credibility in high-stakes applications extends to some of the most demanding environments, including the International Space Station.
We recently sat down with Crampton and Amanda Sawyer, along with Eddie Lee and Todd Desso from Moxa’s Americas team, to talk about how the partnership with e2Companies developed and how Moxa’s technology underpins energy reliability for facilities nationwide.
The relationship traces back to a shared partner, MSI Tec, a Colorado-based distributor and system integrator with deep roots in industrial control systems.
Travis worked closely with MSI Tec Vice President Mike Barrett for years. When e2Companies CEO and President James Richmond began building out the microgrid architecture that would become the R3Di System, Barrett and the MSI Tec team designed the R3Di’s control cabinet using Moxa components.
Most conversations about microgrids focus on the power network, including generation assets, battery storage, inverters, and switchgear.
People don’t always think about the less visible but equally critical element, the data network.
Different components in a microgrid speak different protocols, or machine languages developed by different manufacturers. Moxa’s protocol gateways translate between them so every device in the system understands the others, and so they can act on accurate, real-time data simultaneously.
In the R3Di System, Moxa’s hardware bridges every component in the data network.
Their industrial ethernet switches, secure routers, protocol gateways, and computing devices connect the batteries, inverters, generators, switchgear, and meters so all these elements can communicate in real time. These signals allow the R3Di’s software to detect anomalies and execute power transfers.
“If communication fails,” Crampton said, “controllers lose visibility. The logic breaks. The protection breaks. The operators lose visibility.”
Moxa makes sure that doesn’t happen.
“We’re the Rosetta Stone of industrial languages,” he said.
That role extends well beyond microgrids.
Moxa’s products are designed for operational technology (OT) environments where the users are electrical engineers and technicians, not IT specialists.
Engineers need to be able to source these components quickly and configure them easily.
The market is quickly converging around deployment speed. In markets where 52- to 72-week lead times on competing products can stall a deployment, Moxa’s operational discipline and supply chain reliability offer a competitive advantage.
Protecting industrial networks and maintaining continuous operations starts with secure components. Moxa’s devices are “secure by design”, meaning they have embedded security features such as:
The company holds IEC 62443 certification, the international standard for industrial automation and control system cybersecurity. They are also compliant with NERC CIP standards, the mandatory reliability and cybersecurity requirements that govern power systems in North America.
Moxa proactively monitors for emerging cybersecurity threats and publishes patches.
They also have the MXsecurity industrial network security platform administrators can use to deploy firewall policies and monitor network activity and threats.
For utilities, data centers, healthcare, manufacturing, and other industries, these security elements add a layer of credibility not every networking hardware vendor has.
Moxa’s hardware is also engineered for the long haul.
It supports legacy infrastructure dating back decades, including devices still operating in substations built in the 1970s, as well as the latest cloud-connected virtual utility architectures. This helps futureproof systems that incorporate Moxa.
Moxa serves clients across manufacturing, transportation, maritime, oil and gas, utilities, and increasingly, data centers. Their technology-agnostic approach means they can meet customers wherever they are in the transition from older systems to newer architectures.
Organizations like Amazon Web Services, Chevron, Schneider Electric, and Boeing rely on Moxa’s industrial networking to keep mission-critical operations connected.
Lee described Moxa’s positioning in terms that translate directly to the challenges facing facility operators today.
“We’re like the central nervous system inside, connecting motors and critical functions,” he said. The company’s willingness to architect entire networks for large-scale deployments rather than simply selling components reflects the same integrated-partner approach that defines e2Companies’ relationship with its customers.
Within the Americas market specifically, Lee noted the U.S. is experiencing the fastest growth Moxa has seen, driven primarily by AI infrastructure and data center expansion.
That growth trajectory is directly tied to one of the most pressing power availability challenges in the country.
AI and hyperscale data center growth is creating an energy demand problem that the grid, as currently built, cannot fully absorb.
Capital expenditures on infrastructure for data centers is expected to exceed $1.7 trillion by 2030, according to a McKinsey analysis, and the demand for power is skyrocketing. The United States alone will need to more than triple its annual power capacity to meet that need, according to the report.
“Utilities can’t keep up with the insatiable desire for power,” Todd Desso said. “We’re talking 9 GW data centers now. e2 provides that grid resiliency that will be needed to drive this growth.”
As hyperscalers and colocation providers exhaust available grid capacity, on-site utility-grade power provided by solutions like the R3Di System are becoming a prerequisite for continued expansion. The same network reliability that Moxa delivers inside each R3Di System scales with that growth.
Both companies serve overlapping industries, including data centers, oil and gas, manufacturing, and commercial facilities, and they plan to continue investing in those opportunities.
As deployments grow from individual installations to networks of systems operating across large facilities or campuses, the data network management question becomes more complex.
Moxa’s network management software, which provides a centralized view of the entire network, including device health, connectivity status, and provisioning, will be increasingly important as demand for the R3Di grows.
Moxa also pointed to the potential for a standardized, pre-engineered network design that could reduce deployment time and complexity at scale.
“As they start rolling things out to where they’re putting these out at mass scale, then we can look at designing products and things for them specifically,” Crampton said. “That’s where I think it gets really interesting.”
The energy industry is moving fast, with more demand from data centers that need on-site power generation and energy storage. At the same time, hyperscalers are increasingly aware of the importance of data sovereignty and cybersecurity. Tightly secure networks proactively monitor energy systems and potential threats.
Moxa and e2Companies share a common orientation toward that environment: build to the highest standards, certify through third parties, and design for the long term.
To learn more about how Virtual Utility® can deliver power reliability and energy optimization for your facility, schedule a consultation with our team.