|
April 2011 |
BTL Mark: Resolve interoperability issues & increase buyer confidence |
|
Dynamic Energy Management |
Demand
response (DR) – the curtailing of electricity consumption based
on the electric grid’s changing stress levels - has grown in popularity
over the years as a cost-effective way to ensure system energy needs
are met. A critical component of many of today’s facility energy
management strategies, DR’s value will become even more pronounced as
energy prices continue to rise over time. The adoption of more
renewable energy, which is intermittent and cannot be stored, is also
expected to increase stress on the grid and contribute to price
volatility. The economic benefits of DR, in fact, are rapidly
becoming indisputable: Greentech
Media recently reported that the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission estimated a reduction of 37
gigawatts in peak demand from DR in 2009, and projects this figure
could jump to 188 gigawatts in 2019.
| Articles |
| Interviews |
| Releases |
| New Products |
| Reviews |
 |
| Editorial |
| Events |
| Sponsors |
| Site Search |
| Newsletters |
|
| Archives |
| Past Issues |
| Home |
| Editors |
| eDucation |
|
| Training |
| Links |
| Software |
| Subscribe |
|
Commercial
and industrial entities have a growing number of
energy-related concerns, the most prevalent of which is continually
rising facility-management costs. Add to that volatile
electricity pricing, an aging infrastructure with few new transmission
lines or power plants being built, and growing stress on the grid, and
it’s easy to understand why constant monitoring is required to assess
and manage power usage at an efficient level. For these reasons,
“dynamic energy management” has emerged as a way for facilities to
balance the wide-ranging variables impacting their current and future
energy use.
Using DR as a foundation, dynamic energy management takes the load
monitoring and curtailment strategy a step further to combine the power
of spot market intelligence, real-time monitoring, and automation
technology to provide a complete and instant picture of current power
usage and cost. VirtuWatt, an online interface developed by
Constellation Energy to instantly assess and address energy load,
embodies dynamic energy management and serves as an example for how
automated monitoring and load shedding can become a critical tool
in the energy management arsenal for today’s facility managers.
Creating an Ideal Dynamic
Energy Management Tool
Traditionally, managing one’s energy consumption has been a guessing
game. With the electricity bill arriving as much as five weeks
after the first kilowatt-hour has been consumed, customers have been
able to do little to manage their consumption in real-time. As a
consequence, managing to budget has been nearly impossible. In the
commercial building space, with significant HVAC load, this can be a
real problem; a week of very hot weather can eat a significant portion
of a monthly budget, and the facilities manager won’t know the
implications until the bill arrives.
VirtuWatt’s active online monitoring brings more control and visibility
to energy management through a set of intelligent views. For
example, its intuitive dashboard provides prices and current power
usage across multiple zones or facilities, serving to increase
transparency and control. This tool also provides time-frame
snapshots and usage estimation for utilities budgeting, which helps
eliminate some of the uncertainty involved in facilities
management. Another distinct advantage is the
application showing the correlation between outside temperature and
energy consumption. In some markets where such prices are
available, it also displays the day-ahead price, thereby
allowing managers to map tomorrow’s strategy (for example, pre-cooling)
ahead of time.
The functionalities that many energy managers dream about – real-time
control, bidding capabilities and even mobile access – are also part of
the offering. A bidding platform provides access to
various wholesale energy markets, and an iPhone app puts dynamic energy
management directly into the hands of busy, mobile facility
managers. With these features combined, it also serves as
an ideal energy budget protection system, enabling instant control in
response to various grid conditions or market signals.
Putting DEM Automation Into
Practice
Automating some or all of an energy management strategy, however, only
partially qualifies the solution as “dynamic” or intelligent
management. In practice, energy management strategies have to be
able to communicate to a variety of various building automation and
controls systems. They also must be adapted according to specific
facility requirements. VirtuWatt provides the flexibility to automate
and then select from various pre-engineered strategies. For
example, hotel ballrooms would be potential zones for load curtailment,
unless a facility is hosting a wedding in a particular ballroom, during
which time that specific zone would be off-limits for
adjustments. This type of setting can be automated as facility
managers are able to choose which assets to deploy or avoid.
Vornado/Charles E. Smith, based in the
Washington D.C. region, recently
saw the benefits of the automated monitoring first hand. During
last summer’s severe heat, Vornado received a signal from the grid to
participate in a demand response event and help avoid a potential
blackout. The facilities managers were able to select the
appropriate pre-determined strategies with a few clicks of a mouse, and
create an automated response in 27 buildings under management, without
affecting tenant comfort.
Beyond helping to avoid a potential grid
emergency, the
automated capabilities help to promote sustainability efforts and
foster overall energy efficiency and awareness. Demand response
as managed by tools like VirtuWatt ultimately enables the facilities
manager to reduce energy costs without affecting the critical mission
of providing a safe, comfortable, and secure environment to the tenant.
Why DR, Why Now?
Demand response has proven to be a beneficial strategy for many types
of facilities – schools, hospitals, retail sites, data centers – and
VirtuWatt is emerging as the ideal tool for highly automated energy
management with minimal customer interaction. That said, DR can
be even more effective when employed as part of an integrated energy
solution. The product's online, mobile dynamic energy management
capabilities are, for the first time, creating a true handshake between
the power markets and electricity users. For many, it is seen as
a competitive advantage, but for some, it is already emerging as the
backbone of their energy management strategies.
About the Author
Peter Kelly-Detwiler is senior vice president, Demand Response, at
Constellation Energy, a leading competitive supplier of energy products
and services. Contact him at Peter.Detwiler@constellation.com.
[Click Banner To Learn More]
[Home Page] [The Automator] [About] [Subscribe ] [Contact Us]
