Making power grid flexible
ENBALA is putting electricity system on cruise control,
It’s natural to think of power solely in terms of consumption: the greater the demand, the more the need for supply. It’s less intuitive to think of it as something that can be tinkered with like a dimmer switch or a faucet to balance how much or how little is needed at a given time, and where on the grid it might come from.
But technology and software are literally flipping the switch on the way people, companies and institutions like hospitals and universities think about power consumption and how it’s used — and given back — in a smarter, more efficient way.
With more renewable sources of energy that literally ebb and flow with the strength of wind or amount of sunlight, the need to respond to fluctuations in supply and demand of electricity are stronger than ever, and will continue to grow.
“It is literally flipping a switch in terms of the way we think about energy demand,” says Laura Berndt, manager of energy and sustainability with Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.
Toronto-based ENBALA Power Networks is at the centre of the switch. It has been working with Sunnybrook and others to implement its grid-balancing technology and software, which it unveiled last week among several pilot programs throughout Ontario, including one that taps into Sunnybrook’s chilling plant cooling system.
It is but one example of what utility operators and energy consumers in Canada and abroad are doing to smooth out fluctuations in electricity demand and make the grid more stable, reliable and efficient. It is also a way for institutions like Sunnybrook to indirectly ensure their own lights stay on — and get compensated for it in the process.
“We are rewarded for the amount of flexibility we can utilize with our system,” says Ms. Berndt, who estimates the hospital will save between $15,000 and $30,000 of its $7-million annual energy bill, to start.
It wasn’t long ago that having enough power running to keep the grid stable during peak times literally involved begging people to turn off their lights and notch up the A/C by a few degrees. The only way to keep things running was to ensure it was — and remained — in perfect balance, by turning on or off large generators.
But technology and the advent of the “smart grid” has created new ways to smooth out demand and make it more flexible and efficient — in power generation parlance, supply/demand optimization.
“There’s no question that we’ve built systems to meet demand, but what comes with the smart grid is a chance to optimize that,” says Michael Losier, program director of New Brunswick Power Corp.’s Power Shift initiative, which is focused on developing the smart grid for both businesses and individual consumers. “We’ve built an eight-lane highway, but sometimes there’s only a need to engage five or six lanes.”
That’s where ENBALA comes in. Working with Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), and others, its technology plugs those who have capacity to spare into the grid, helping smooth out high-demand peaks and troughs.
Every few seconds, the IESO sends a signal to ENBALA — which its platform receives and then provides an aggregated response based on how much capacity providers like Sunnybrook, McMaster University and others have, says Ron Dizy, ENBALA’s president and CEO.
“It’s like cruise control for the grid,” says Mr. Dizy. “It takes back power from providers as, and when, it’s fluctuating to keep it in balance.”
McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., has also signed on to ENBALA’s platform, allowing the company to hook up its 16x16inch smart metre and control panel to its own chilling system to extract electricity when the grid needs it.
“The idea is to recognize the maximum and the minimum and get to a shallow situation,” says Dr. Mohamed Attalla, McMaster’s assistant vice-president and chief facilities officer, noting the ENBALA initiative is part of a larger, five-year plan to cut the university’s energy consumption by an ambitious 25%.
To be sure, it is being applied in ways never really considered — tapping into hockey arenas to pull energy when it’s not needed, or getting electricity from pumps that fill water towers during off-peak times to make it more efficient.
“From our point of view, it provides us additional flexibility in operating the power system, which is highly of value,” says IESO president Bruce Campbell. “Because more and more variable resources are coming online — wind and solar being the two big ones — flexibility is highly prized right now.”