Electric Power Engineers (EPE) Performs Demand Dispatch Analysis on Municipal Residential Load And Confirms Significant Economic Value with Guaranteed Quality of Service
Austin, Texas, December 09, 2019 – EPE announced today that it has completed analysis of a simulated Demand Dispatch program in the Heart of Texas Electric Cooperative (HOTEC) service territory. Using its proprietary ENER-ITM software platform, EPE identified the potential for significant savings, estimated at over $420,000 over ten years for the 528 homes located on a single distribution circuit.
Demand Dispatch is an emerging science for predictably controlling flexible electric loads, and reliably dispatching them to provide valuable grid services. This approach to managing and coordinating distributed loads can significantly improve overall utilization of grid resources and increase system reliability while satisfying customer preferences.
The case study was applied to a cold winter day during HOTEC’s all-time system peak, and the calculation of an optimal schedule for flexible electric loads on a single distribution circuit. The simulation was applied to 1,400 varied residential appliances, including refrigerators, central heaters, water heaters, and pool pumps.
The resulting calculated net load was evaluated for its savings impacts on peak charges, line losses, and deferral of capital expenditures.
The simulation demonstrates the following:
- Demand Dispatch is a promising resource allocation solution for optimizing response schedules to match overall grid needs while maintaining customer satisfaction.
- ENER-i™ allows the user to simulate various control strategies and compare their results in order to find an optimal solution for the grid. Examples include randomized policies, price-based mechanisms and priority-stack-based control.
Results and estimated savings:
EPE’s simulation indicated that a distributed demand approach applied to loads on a single feeder is both technically feasible and yields significant benefits to the distribution utility. These include:
- An 8% reduction in peak demand.
- Substantially lower ramp rates.
- Significantly lower net load trajectory
- Estimated net savings exceeding $425,000
- Resulting ‘virtual’ energy storage can be significantly less costly than comparable lithium-ion batteries installations.
Implications:
Nationally, the amount of enrolled demand response capacity has increased 50% in just two years, from 13.6 GW to 20.8 GW. These numbers will only increase, as the ability to communicate with, automate, and aggregate flexible loads continues to improve. EPE’s recent simulation demonstrates the significant potential and economic value available to grid planners that can effectively manage Demand Dispatch resources.
About Electric Power Engineers
Electric Power Engineers, Inc. (EPE) is a leading power engineering consulting firm. EPE offers unparalleled expertise in power system planning, design, and grid integration in the United States and international markets. Our experience and services cover the entire spectrum of GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, and DISTRIBUTION and are provided to developers, generation owners, transmission service providers, municipalities, electric cooperatives, and various government entities.
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