International Consortium to Provide Grid Solutions for U.S., Canada
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS) and Opus One Solutions (Opus One), announced today the development of a $16.4 million North American Microgrid project at three utilities in Canada and the US. Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), will provide $5.4 million in funding to support the project, designed to improve integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) and commercial microgrids into power systems and regional wholesale markets. The project will demonstrate smart and integrated transactive energy (TE) networks that integrate wind, solar, electric vehical charging stations, battery storage and feeder-based microgrids into traditional electricity power systems at Emera Maine, Nova Scotia Power and Toronto Hydro.
The project combines the AMS advanced analytics and economic optimization platform and Opus One’s GridOS®, a real-time distribution energy management platform, to build smart and integrated transactive energy (TE) networks. Opus One will lead the consortium, which includes AMS, Smarter Grid Solutions, Ryerson University Centre for Urban Energy, Nova Scotia Power, Inc., Emera Main and Toronto Hydro.
“Today’s power grid needs advanced storage solutions to accommodate the variability of renewable generation,” said Alain P. Steven, Chief Technology Advisor of AMS and former CTO of PJM Interconnection. “The combined platform will provide grid operators with grid reliability services while lowering the net costs of energy storage through participatin in wholesale and developing distribution markets.”
“We are thrilled to work with a leading technology provider like Advanced Microgrid Solutions to demonstrate the capabilities of our intelligent energy networking software platform, GridOS® says Joshua Wong, CEO and President of Opus One. “Transforming the electricity grid requires leaders willing to adopt innovative technologies and we are grateful SDTC has allowed this partnership to flourish.”
The multi-utility project includes development of a commercial microgrid at Emera Maine’s Hampden Operations Center consisting of solar, battery storage and back-up diesel generation integrated with distribution-level feeder operations and the New England ISO; a DER management demonstration project at Toronto Hydro, and a feeder-based microgrid for Nova Scotia Power featuring wind resources, grid-scale energy storage and up to 10 residential battery systems. AMS’s platform will perform an economic optimization of the DERs, while Opus One’s GridOS® will ensure that the DERs are optimally dispatched within the physical constraints of the grid. Behind the meter microgrids will provide grid and market operators virtual resources capable of providing integrated demand response and advanced ancillary services such as fast frequency regulation, synthetic inertia and voltage support. In front of the meter microgrids will provide the grid operator with the ability to perform feeder load relief, Volt/VAR optimization and Conservative Voltage Reduction (CVR).
This is AMS’s first project with utilities outside the United States. AMS has more than 120 MW of energy storage projects under contract, including 90MW of grid support in capacity-constrained areas Southern California. AMS’ grid-scale energy storage projects include a fleet of Hybrid Electric BuildingÒ, grid independence projects at regional water districts and California State University campuses.
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About Advanced Microgrid Solutions
Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS) is pioneering the use of energy storage systems for electric utility grid support. Using a technology-agnostic approach, the company designs, finances, installs and manages advanced energy storage solutions for utilities and commercial, industrial and government building owners. To learn more, visit www.advmicrogrid.com.
About Opus One Solutions
Opus One Solutions is a software engineering and solutions company with the vision of a Connected Energy Internet, delivering real-time energy management to the modern grid. Through GridOS®, its leading edge suite of offerings, Opus One delivers a new level of visibility and control to electricity distribution by solving and optimizing complex power flows. Seamlessly integrating with existing utility data systems, GridOS® modular and scalable solutions provide powerful grid management capabilities to unlock greater potential for distributed energy resources including renewable generation, energy storage and responsive demand. GridOS® further facilitates the management of microgrids from homes to communities for unparalleled grid resiliency and value to the electricity customer. www.opusonesolutions.com