EPRI Gains $2M Funding for Commercial Building VPP Demonstration Project
The California Energy Commission (CEC) has awarded a three-year, $2 million grant to EPRI, an independent, non-profit energy research and development organization. EPRI will use the funds to demonstrate scalable, community-based virtual power plants (VPP) for commercial buildings.
VPPs use advanced software and communication technologies to manage, optimize and coordinate the output of distributed energy resources (DERs), like rooftop solar and energy storage systems, electric vehicles and smart thermostats and lights.
VPPs are similar to microgrids in that they both utilize DERs to create a reliable power network. The difference is that microgrids are located close to and serve a nearby load, whereas VPPs are an aggregation of DERs used to serve the larger grid.
The demonstration, which will be a collaboration between EPRI, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), utility Southern California Edison and several other organizations, will explore how VPPs can increase the integration of commercial customer-sited renewables such as rooftop solar, electric vehicles and building load demand flexibility.
Leveraging load flexibility
Commercial buildings present a significant opportunity to automate load flexibility, which is the process of adjusting load to match the available electricity supply.
However, the automation technologies market for commercial buildings is highly fragmented and, due to the proprietary nature of the available software, has considerable interoperability challenges.
The VPP demonstration project, which will kick off in February, will involve the installation of an interoperable energy management system at two LAUSD facilities. The goal is to enable seamless data exchange and automated demand flexibility controls between the school buildings and the grid to reduce peak load by more than 10% in the summer and more than 5% in the winter.
The energy management system will include controls for HVAC systems, lighting and electric vehicle charging.
“Load flexibility is becoming increasingly important as more electric vehicles, heat pumps, wind, and solar come online as part of the clean energy transition,” said David Porter, EPRI vice president of electrification and sustainable energy strategy. “This project offers significant potential to increase demand flexibility in the commercial space, and could be eventually replicated for residential needs, benefiting consumers as part of an affordable and reliable clean energy future.”
Virtual power plants gaining traction
Despite some lingering questions about the wisdom of increased VPP adoption, virtual power plants are becoming more popular, especially in California.
Utility San Diego Gas & Electric is running a VPP pilot project to help the grid meet electricity demand when summer temperatures rise and GoodLeap, a fintech company that offers financing for sustainable home upgrades, recently launched its residential VPP network, GoodGrid, in California.
Track VPPs and Building Microgrids with our free E-newsletter
