Hover Energy, a US-based developer of integrated microgrid systems for the built environment, is developing a model in which the utility grid serves mainly as backup for future urban developments.
Hover Cities™ is its new division for extending that technology from individual buildings and campuses to municipal scale. The plan is to connect homes, hospitals, schools, retail premises, water facilities and public infrastructure through one energy network. Electricity would come from several local sources, with batteries storing surplus power and software directing supply around the development.
Energy demand would be calculated during masterplanning, allowing generation, storage and distribution to be designed before construction begins.
Designing a microgrid around the city
A city’s electricity demand changes throughout the day. Offices and retail premises consume more during working hours, household demand rises in the evening, and hospitals and water-treatment facilities require continuous power.
Hover Cities™ would estimate consumption across homes, businesses, civic facilities, transport and infrastructure. The findings would determine the size and combination of equipment installed.
Hover would design and deliver the complete microgrid, covering generation, batteries, substations, connections to individual buildings and distribution across the development. This work would take place during masterplanning, before limited utility capacity causes design changes or construction delays.
The energy mix could include rooftop wind turbines, solar panels, grid-forming batteries and multi-fuel generators providing contingency capacity. Hover says the generators can use biofuel, propane or hydrogen, with fossil fuel retained as a final fallback.
During an outage, the batteries and control system are designed to disconnect the development from the utility network and keep its internal microgrid operating. Black-start capability would allow the system to restart without an external electricity supply.
Hover has set net-zero energy as a target for the model. Capacity could be added as each district is built, accommodating new buildings and higher consumption without replacing the original network design.
Agentic AI controls supply and demand
Hover’s Microgrid Management System™, or MMS™ 2.0, would provide central control across the development. It employs agentic AI to monitor conditions, forecast consumption and decide how electricity is dispatched between available sources and users.
The platform responds to changes in location, season and occupancy. It is also designed to detect faults and isolate the affected section before other buildings lose supply.
Managing housing, healthcare, commerce, food production and public services through one system presents a more complex task than controlling a single property. Each use has a different operating schedule and tolerance for interruption. A failure affecting a hospital or water facility carries more serious consequences than one affecting retail premises.
Hover’s microgrid management technology incorporates IBM Maximo Application Suite and watsonx.ai. The software uses AI agents to manage site-specific power flows from sources including wind, solar and storage, learning from operating data to improve performance. IBM detailed the system with Hover at IBM TechXchange in October 2025.
Local control also applies to data. Hover says information generated by the city’s buildings and infrastructure would be held on site, reducing reliance on external computing systems for routine operations.
From a London college to city-scale energy
A building-scale project now moving through the approval process in London offers an indication of how Hover’s technology works in practice.
In July 2026, Newham Council granted planning permission for five Hover Energy wind turbines on the roof of London Design and Engineering UTC in the Royal Docks. The turbines would operate with the college’s existing solar panels and planned battery storage as a single microgrid. The installation is expected to supply about 81% of the building’s electricity.
The project has secured planning permission and is awaiting final approval from the Department for Education.
If approved, the college will combine local wind and solar generation, battery storage and software that balances supply against demand. It would provide a building-scale example of the system Hover plans to use across larger developments.
The company is also working with E.ON UK, an energy company, on local networks involving multiple buildings. In November 2025, the two companies announced plans to develop and deploy a series of smart microgrid projects, initially in the London Borough of Newham.
Their plans combine renewable generation on community buildings with digital communications and smart-meter data. Supply and demand could then be balanced across the local network in real time.
Hover Cities™ applies the same approach to complete urban developments.
Removing the initial infrastructure cost
Hover’s commercial structure is designed to remove the initial cost of microgrid infrastructure from the developer. Under its power-as-a-service arrangement, the company can finance, own and operate the system while the development buys electricity through a long-term agreement.
The no-upfront-cost structure is subject to the terms of each project. Where it applies, Hover would fund the initial infrastructure and remain responsible for operating it after commissioning.
Hover projects electricity-bill savings of 50%, with results varying by location, consumption profile, and commercial terms.
Hover Cities™ uses Formula H, the company’s process for designing and deploying integrated microgrids, alongside MMS™ 2.0 and its energy hardware. Hover reports that it holds 19 granted patents and has filed another 31 applications.
The company is also working with SEE Holding, a developer of sustainable communities in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Oman. SEE Holding named Hover as its global technology partner in February 2026.
SEE Holding brings experience in land acquisition, masterplanning, approvals and community management. Hover provides the microgrid and its control software. The partnership allows the energy system to be planned alongside housing, public services, food production, water systems and transport.
