BPL Global provides Integrated DER Solution to Jersey Central Power & Light

Smart grid technology company BPL Global has collaborated with Jersey Central Power and Light (JCP&L) to deploy an Integrated Distributed Energy Resource (DER) management system to demonstrate energy efficiency and reliability as well as customer satisfaction in JCP&L's service area.

The project combines JCP&L distribution design and operations expertise with BPLG software solutions and device technology. Smart grid technology will support JCP&L's efforts to coordinate the management of distributed generation, renewables, energy storage and demand management.

According to JCP&L, the DER management pilot will exemplify the value and viability of targeted peak load management as a source of system reliability and energy efficiency for distribution circuits.

The Integrated DER project will deliver a projected eight megawatts of direct load control consisting of five megawatts from about 3,500 residential customers and three megawatts from 30 to 90 commercial and industrial customers.

The technology allows real-time management of the energy delivery system based on the changing conditions of the distribution network. The system can be configured to respond differently based on the condition of the grid, whether operations are normal, or under high load. Using the DER management solution can result in energy, operational, capital and environmental efficiencies that have the potential to create significant value for electric customers and utilities.

The pilot programme incorporates smart grid technology and is also consistent with demonstrating alternative means of cost-effectively addressing critical goals related to demand response in the New Jersey Energy Master Plan, said Steve Morgan, president, JCP&L, a subsidiary of Akron, Ohio-based FirstEnergy Corp.

Dominion Virginia Power ties up with Elster

Dominion Virginia Power, a subsidiary of Dominion, has chosen Elster's EnergyAxis System Smart Grid Solution for use in the utility's recently announced energy conservation plans.

In 2009, Dominion plans to deploy 200,000 smart meters as part of a large demonstration programme of smart grid technology in urban and rural areas of Dominion's service territory. Dominion expects to improve customer service and business operations through advanced system control, real-time outage notification, and power quality monitoring.

As part of this programme, Dominion is deploying a number of smart thermostats with the EnergyAxis System for a residential critical peak pricing pilot this summer. Dominion will measure customer responsiveness to changing energy prices and the impact on energy demand during peak usage periods.

Dominion's plans for using EnergyAxis System strengthens a long-standing relationship between Dominion and the smart metering and smart grid system solutions company.

As per the information available, Dominion Virginia Power plans to invest about $600 million to create a "smart" electric grid that it said will produce environmental benefits while providing customers with substantial cost savings. The smart grid is part of a larger conservation plan, called "Powering Virginia". The company hopes to begin implementing programmes next year.

The smart grid will allow energy to be delivered more efficiently and will result in significant energy savings by allowing more precise control of the energy flow, Dominion said.It plans to replace all of its existing electric meters with Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), capable of two-way communications, as well as additional equipment to monitor and control the electric distribution system.

eMeter leverages VMware technology for hardware cost savings

eMeter Corporation has joined the VMware Technology Alliance Partner (TAP) programme.

The VMware TAP programme helps technology vendors integrate their products with VMware virtualisation software and deliver timely, joint solutions to mutual customers.

Through eMeter's support of EnergyIP software running on VMware Infrastructure 3, eMeter's utility customers now have a combined solution to increase performance, cut operating costs, and achieve greener operations.

The company stated that VMware Infrastructure 3 improves business continuity and strengthens the security of eMeter's EnergyIP software. The capabilities of VMware virtualisation software and technology help eMeter customers cut costs through virtualisation and hardware consolidation resulting in reduced hardware and operating costs required to run EnergyIP.

Cost savings and benefits are realised immediately through a smaller total foot print in the datacenter including lower overall power and cooling requirements and a smaller carbon footprint enabling customers to meet their green initiatives.

Apart from providing hardware cost savings, VMware Infrastructure also provides a built-in redundant infrastructure that will meet many IT shops' high availability and disaster recovery needs.

"We are presently working on offering templates and appliances which would reduce the implementation time significantly," said Larsh Johnson, president and CTO, eMeter.

"This also fits well with the fact that EnergyIP, as meter data management (MDM) software, is a cornerstone component of the Smart Grid infrastructure and key to the ability of utilities to implement large-scale consumer energy efficiency programmes," shared Johnson.

eMeter provides software that enables utilities to realise the full benefits of their Smart Grid and Advanced Metering initiatives including demand response programs. Demand response programs have been shown to conserve up to 20 percent of electricity typically used, says the company.

State of Rhode Island focuses on New England's energy resources

The State of Rhode Island has entered into a five-year contract with EnerNOC, Inc. The development is being described as a positive one in Rhode Island's broader mission to promote environmentally responsible energy policies.

As per the contract, EnerNOC, a developer and provider of clean and intelligent energy solutions, will manage demand response capacity from city, town and government-related buildings into the Independent System Operator of New England, Inc. (ISO-NE) market.

Under the contract terms, individual government buildings can enroll in EnerNOC's technology-enabled demand response network. Each site will be paid for agreeing to reduce non-essential electricity consumption during periods of peak demand. In addition, each participating site will gain basic access to EnerNOC's PowerTrak energy management platform, which enables users to view and analyse their energy consumption data in near real-time and measure efficiency gains.

The pact will also result in a revenue stream for the State that can be used to fund other government programmes.

"As Rhode Island is facing skyrocketing energy costs and consumers are being asked to pay more for electricity, reducing non-essential consumption is an important component of our commitment to support reliable, cost-effective and environmentally sustainable energy solutions," said Governor Donald L. Carcieiri.

Providing consumers with price incentives to use power efficiently

eMeter's EnergyIP software has set the foundation for the first mass market application based on real-time interval meter data with the release of EnergyIP version 6.0.

EnergyIP version 6.0 is marketed globally in partnership with Siemens and other system integrators.

Referring to real-time interval meter data, Cree Edwards, CEO, eMeter said the development is absolutely fundamental to the premise of energy efficiency and demand response.

The usage of power efficiently depends on options like time of use (TOU) and critical peak pricing (CPP) programmes where power prices reflect the real time-variable costs of energy, including future carbon costs.

In this context, Edwards said that these types of pricing programmes cannot be implemented without interval data and usage-based billing and added that EnergyIP is the leading application software supporting real-time interval data management on a massive scale.

The new version also covers the requirements for complex commercial and industrial (C&I) billing using interval data from these accounts. Functionality to support consumer solar and other renewable energy initiatives through the net metering processes is also in place.

These new functions are layered on a broad foundation of real-time processing that includes event handling, VEE (Validation, Estimation & Editing), and Billing Determinant computations.

Version 6.0 also supports connectivity to 17 different Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) systems from leading providers such as Elster, Landis+Gyr, and Sensus. These off-the-shelf adapters allow utilities to choose a wide range of AMI technologies without custom coding and without the future headache of maintaining custom code.

VYCON proves its worth to YICT

China’s Yantian International Container Terminal (YICT) has agreed to buy additional units of VYCON’s mobile cranes.

The decision to place a new order for REGEN Crane Energy Storage systems was based on a test conducted by the Shenzhen-based company, a joint venture established by Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) Group and Shenzhen Yantian Port Group.

YICT is responsible for operating and managing Phases I, II, III, Expansion Project and West Port at Yantian Port.

The test conducted at YICT showed that retrofitting a Rubber Tired Gantry (RTG) crane with the VYCON REGEN system and optimising the generator can provide up to 38 percent in fuel savings. At the operational rates found at YICT of approximately 10 moves per hour, the REGEN system reduced fuel consumption by 30 percent.

VYCON’s strength not only lies in controlling fuel costs but also in reduction of emissions be it during lift cycles or the overall operation. It derives such benefit from its high recycling capabilities, which optimise RTG cranes’ (mobile cranes designed for the movement of shipping containers once they are placed into the distribution channels from the ship) diesel generator operation by storing energy during lowering cycles (regeneration) and quickly releasing this regenerated energy for lift cycles.

These transitions are seamless and instantaneous, according to the company.

VYCON is expects to reap benefits from such performance as Yantian is a preferred port of call for mega-container vessels in South China.

The YICT Expansion Project is currently under construction. This project includes six container berths involving an investment of over RMB10 billion. It is scheduled to be completed by 2010.

AES gets closer to commercial deployment of grid-scale energy storage

Power company AES Corporation has taken a significant step towards the commercial deployment of grid-scale energy storage.

The development emerged with the successful completion of a demonstration and validation programme for a two-megawatt 500 kilowatt-hour battery system purchased by AES Corporation.

AES Corporation and Altair Nanotechnologies, post their agreement last year, have been developing a suite of energy storage solutions. This first solution is a modular unit designed to deliver in excess of one megawatt of power and 250 kilowatt-hours of energy per unit. Multiple units can be linked together in systems to provide both more power and more energy storage.

According to Altair, the grid-scale validation is expected to open new markets in the utility sector for Altair’s battery technology. The tests are important as they also indicate that lithium-ion batteries can be used for utility-grade energy storage. Right now, most short-term energy storage is done by lead acid batteries.

This demonstration also suggests that the technology could be used for several other utility applications.

For testing, the system was installed and operated at a substation owned by Indianapolis Power & Light (IPL), an AES company.

The system contained two one-megawatt battery storage units each consisting of one Altairnano 250 kilowatt-hour lithium titanate battery stack, AC-to-DC power conversion system, HVAC units, a control system and transformers to connect to the IPL grid.

The capacity of each unit was tested by repeatedly charging and discharging at one megawatt for 15 minutes during the process. In a second test, two megawatts of power from each of the units were used to show the capability of paralleling two separate systems. Additional testing included simulated frequency regulation, which involved switching the units from charge to discharge at up to one megawatt of power every four seconds for several hours.

The programme was developed and validated by KEMA, Inc. and executed by AES personnel and subcontractors.

Chris Shelton, director - Energy Storage Development, AES said, “Fast-responding, high-efficiency energy storage systems such as these will create a more resilient grid and allow for increased use of variable generating sources such as wind and solar.”

As per the information available, A123 Systems, which makes batteries for plug-in hybrids and power tools among other devices, is also actively pushing into utility storage.