Irvine Ranch Water District Load Shifting and Demand Response Pilot Project
Enabling Automated Optimization of Water Operations and Energy Use
Advanced Microgrid Solutions, Inc.
Recipient
San Francisco, CA
Recipient Location
11th
Senate District
17th
Assembly District
$560,886
Amount Spent
Completed
Project Status
Project Result
Battery energy storage systems (BESS) were installed at six sites and enrolled in the Local Capacity Requirements (LCR) program with a total capacity of 6.5 MW/35 MWh. The systems were controlled by the Platform which optimized the BESS operation to maximize value of demand charge management (DCM) and demand response (DR) programs. Performance data was used to evaluate project performance according to six key performance indicators, peak demand and peak usage reduction; DR performance; bill reduction; GHG reduction; and tariff impact. The BESS effectively reduced on-peak energy use and curtailed consumption during LCR events. However, this did not translate into lower operating costs. Bills increased by 1-2%. GHG emissions and electricity consumption were also higher post-BESS, likely due to battery round-trip inefficiencies. Varied performance with regard to on-peak demand and global peak demand reduction reflects the complexity of co-optimizing BESS for DCM and DR participation.
The Issue
Water agencies operate within strict health, safety, and reliability and ratemaking constraints. Participation in demand response programs is not part of the core mission of water agencies and funding to increase demand response participation is not supported in the rate design. Electricity tariffs for water agencies intended to reduce peak demand are often at odds with the operating requirements of water and wastewater treatment facilities. Smart load control and demand response technologies are needed to automatically reduce peak demand, usage, and optimize cost, within existing tariffs and operational constraints of water agencies.
Project Innovation
This project develops, tests, and validates a load-shifting optimization platform to reduce energy use and demand charges in the water sector. The platform advances pre-commercial demand response technologies to reduce: peak demand, energy use, and operational costs. The platform integrates advanced real-time monitoring, automated load shifting control, energy storage, and a pre-commercial cost optimization platform. Data generated by the project will validate the approach and identify best practices for increasing water sector participation in demand response programs.
Project Benefits
The project integrates several pre-commercial and commercial technologies into a platform that enables operational equipment and energy storage resources to respond automatically to energy price signals. The integrated approach promotes greater participation in demand reduction events, including the ability to participate without prior-day notice.
Affordability
The project fulfilled its purpose of advancing, testing, and validating a load shifting optimization platform, but had mixed results in achieving the goal of lower costs. Three of the six sites experienced a decrease in the average on-peak demand, while the remaining three experienced an increase in the average on-peak demand. The total on-peak energy use decreased at all sites. Despite this, only half of the sites achieved positive bill savings, while the other half saw an increase in the total utility bill. The bill reduction ranges from 0.4 percent to 4 percent. The remaining three sites experienced a bill increase ranging from 1.6 percent to 3.4 percent.
Reliability
The project validates the ability of water agencies to participate in demand response events on an automated basis, enable a more rapid response, and allow for greater load reduction. This project has the potential to increase grid reliability by increasing participation in demand response programs and providing dispatchable load reduction.
Key Project Members
Jesse Bryson
Subrecipients
Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, Inc.
Guidehouse Inc.
Akbar Jazayeri
Irvine Ranch Water District
Match Partners
Advanced Microgrid Solutions, Inc.
