Press release page 2 >>

By Jesse Berst

Demand response requires "flexible load" -- that is, power use that can be shifted earlier or pushed later to avoid times of peak demand. I've been wondering for years why so many people are fixated on finding it in residences. Residential usage has some flexibility, but not a lot. More importantly, residential loads are relatively small, so you have to aggregate thousands of houses to make a difference.  

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Industrial and (to a lesser extent) commercial loads are different. They often have large power uses that can be shifted minutes or even hours without harm. Take the IBM research effort described in detail on page 2, which uses industrial freezers. Freezers offer "thermal storage." Once you get them cold, they'll stay that way for a long time. That means you can easily pre-cool them in advance, or postpone cooling for a while without harm.    

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In this case, the Flexlast project – a collaboration between Migros, Switzerland’s largest retailer and supermarket chain; BKW, the electricity utility provider of the Canton of Bern; Swissgrid, the national grid operator, and IBM -- is using the load flexibility to match up with renewables. When, for instance, the wind is blowing, the freezers run high. When it dies down, they throttle back. But the principle would apply equally well. The point -- there's still a lot of flexible load out there lurking in factories, plants and commercial high-rises. It's a win-win. Utilities can shave the peak for far less than building a peaking plant. And customers get an additional revenue stream from the demand response payments.

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There's gold in them there chills.

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More on demand response

• It's a wrap: 3 smart grid projects that are getting the job done
• Demand response: Utilities share their programs (and challenges)
• New Comverge DR management system blazes new ground

 

 

Jesse Berst is the founder and chief analyst of Smart Grid News.com, the industry's oldest and largest smart grid site. A frequent keynoter at industry events in the U.S. and abroad, he also serves on advisory committees for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Institute for Electric Efficiency. He often provides strategic consulting to large corporations and venture-backed startups. He is a member of the advisory boards of GridGlo and Calico Energy Services.

 

Press release page 2 >>

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Industrial DR Loads

Agree with the article, but am I missing something? Commercial and Industrial loads make up the preponderance of ISO based DR resources in the US. Timing certain types of use to take advantage of available renewable energy is relatively new only because renewable resources themselves are only now becoming significant resources. Even so some ISO's and a few utilities have piloted this concept for quite some time. More impressive are the pilots around use of these loads to support regulation needs.

Phil Davis - 10/24/2012 - 06:40

There's gold in them there chills.

Hi Jesse, "There's gold in them there chills" Priceless! That is going to keep me laughing all day. That is first class journalism. Cheers Leigh

Leigh Holmes - 10/24/2012 - 09:23

Warehouse Loads

Phil is right – we don’t have to look all the way to Switzerland to see this technology being deployed. EnerNOC has been working with BPA on a similar load-following project using refrigerated warehouses since early 2011, for example. Europe is further ahead in renewable integration, but the US leads in innovative deployment of commercial/industrial demand response, by far. Will be a game changer when the two catch up in their respective markets.

Meghan Lockwood - 10/24/2012 - 14:25

Secondary regulation power from freezer pumps

The real challenge is to predict the thermal requirements of store based on hall characteristics,expected logistic activity, and derive the electric flexibility of a set of pumps, considering all their ramping constraints, to derive a fast secondary regulation power capacity band and over time.

Dieter Gantenbein - 10/25/2012 - 02:02

Video on Flexlast Project

This video shares comments from the scientists and from the client on the project and motivations: http://youtu.be/BU8y6pQBQlc

Chris Sciacca - 10/25/2012 - 02:39

Predictive vs Reactive Demand Response

Jesse, Thank you for sharing the article. I work with a small highly technical DoD contractor working on predictive demand analytics and control. Using complex algorithms, we are able to look at real time trends and historic profiles to predict demand. By leveraging various inputs to the system, we can model for a given time how much power will be needed. This allows for a more accurate and less wasteful use of those resources. This also further optimizes the demand response model much greater than any reactive technology.

Barrett Powell - 10/25/2012 - 10:02

1st EU smart grid DR analytics project

Microgrid RES-based DR is the future for nodal pricing and net-metering apps. SINGULAR project in EU investigates the effects of large-scale integration of renewables and demand-side management on the planning and operation of insular (non-interconnected) electricity grids, proposing efficient measures, solutions and tools towards the development of a sustainable and smart grid. Soon we will have results...pretty soon we launch similar microgrid analytics services in US (Building analytics + Solar cross-matching) and EVs coming up... More @ http://www.intelen.com/news-articles/singular-project-enhancing-micrgrid-analytics-dr-res-connect-grid-customers.html

Intelen - 10/26/2012 - 13:20

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