SAN DIEGO, Feb. 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- San Diego Gas
& Electric (SDG&E) today announced that it is actively
bidding a group of energy storage systems and electric vehicle
fleets as one resource directly into the California Independent
System Operator's (CAISO) energy markets. These markets
include those that address short-term imbalances in electricity
supply caused by such things as intermittent renewable energy. The
achievement ranks SDG&E as one of the first utilities to
integrate electric vehicles (EVs) into California's wholesale energy market.
"This pilot project emphasizes SDG&E's focus on innovation
in the electric vehicle and energy storage sectors," said
James P. Avery, SDG&E's senior
vice president of power supply. "There is tremendous potential for
dispatchable distributed energy resources to enhance reliability
and achieve greater efficiencies. The key to unlocking that
potential is to better understand how these resources provide value
both at the customer site level and at the larger electric grid
level. This project does just that."
The project currently aggregates stationary storage systems
together with the charging demand of EV fleets at five separate
locations throughout San Diego
County. The assets are remotely controlled using software
that both balances the participant's charging needs, and identifies
opportunities to provide demand response services at the grid
level. Demand response is when customers don't charge EVs or
consume energy at peak hours, which alleviates stress on the grid
and helps make sure adequate resources are available for the entire
region. The project achieves this by correlating charging activity
with wholesale energy prices. By agreeing to not charge in certain
high price hours, the aggregated resource is paid the marginal
energy price in those hours, similar to a conventional generator.
The pilot project will end in late 2015.
Besides being among the first to integrate electric vehicles
into California's energy markets,
the project is identifying both barriers and best practices for
future, large scale integration and interaction of dispatchable
distributed energy resources with wholesale markets, and creating
tools to evaluate growth opportunities for those
resources.
"Creating a framework for small, aggregated resources to
directly participate in energy markets is a natural evolution of
SDG&E's earlier, pioneering efforts at the San Diego Zoo and
Borrego Springs Microgrid," added Avery. "Those innovative projects
demonstrated that aggregating diverse resources like solar, energy
storage and EVs, created efficiencies and enhanced
reliability."
"This pilot creates an important connection between actual grid
conditions and customer response," added Heather Sanders, the CAISO's Director of
Regulatory Affairs for Distributed Energy Resources. "By having
electric vehicles directly participate as a grid resource in the
wholesale market, vehicles respond to signals from the grid
operator to reduce when electricity is scarce, and continue or
resume charging when renewable generation is plentiful. This
capability helps maximize the use of energy from renewables while
keeping the grid reliable."
There are currently more than 13,000 EVs in SDG&E's service
territory, and the Governor's Zero-Emission Vehicles (ZEV) Action
Plan envisions 1.5 million ZEVs in California by 2025. Achieving that
objective will require significant, near-term investment in
workplace and multi-unit dwelling charging infrastructure to help
increase EV adoption. In addition, reliably integrating and
managing the associated increased charging loads necessitates
innovative rate structures that encourage charging at optimal times
and minimize system impacts at the local distribution level.
Addressing these broader infrastructure additions and rate reform
requirements is the subject of SDG&E's Electric Vehicle Grid
Integration (EVGI) Pilot Program Application currently pending
before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
In achieving the market participation milestone, SDG&E
continues to work closely and collaboratively with its project
partner, Shell Oil Products US (Shell). Matthew Tipper, VP Alternative Energies, Shell
added, "This is a key achievement in our Electric Vehicle R&D
trial in San Diego and an
important milestone for our partnership with SDG&E. The trial
is one of a number of trials globally with selected fleet customers
as they diversify their mix of vehicles. It is important for us to
understand if electric mobility can be made commercially viable for
Shell within our wider alternative energy portfolio."
Houlihan Lokey Strategic Consulting and CleanReturns provide
consulting services and project management for the trial. Olivine,
Inc., a leader in demand-side market integration, provides
technological integration support for the
project.
SDG&E is a regulated public utility that provides safe and
reliable energy service to 3.4 million consumers through 1.4
million electric meters and 878,000 natural gas meters in
San Diego and southern
Orange counties. The utility's
area spans 4,100 square miles. SDG&E is committed to
creating ways to help customers save energy and money every
day. SDG&E is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a
Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego. Connect with SDG&E's Customer
Contact Center at 800-411-7343, on Twitter (@SDGE) and
Facebook.
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SOURCE San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E)