Synergy Module

The central topic of this blog is demand response. However the two imperative drivers for DR are climate change and the economic fallout of peak oil. I don’t know which is going to affect my children more. What follows are two videos I watched this weekend, one on each topic.

The following TED conference speech, addressing what we need to do to avoid climate change, is unusual in that at the end we see the depth of emotion in the speaker regarding climate change.

If the above video addresses the fear of climate change then the following video, of Congressman Bartlett, speaks to the fear of the economic fallout of peak oil. This is the first in a sequence on YouTube. The entire set takes an hour to watch. It is worth taking the time.

I was really impressed by the Webcast by Mary Ann Piette I found yesterday so I did a search and found this one as well. Its even better! This evening I rang Mary Ann and asked her who produced the boxes that she demonstrated during her talks. The Synergy Module type device she demonstrated is made by Akuacom (www.akuacom.com).

The following YouTube video gives a good idea of the state of research into automated energy demand management.

EnerNOC Inc. is an excellent example of a company offering EDM services. The company is based in the USA. Each customer of EnerNOC has an EnerNOC Site Server (ESS) installed. The following photograph shows some of these devices ready for shipment.

EDM requires measurement and control functionality at the customer site and the ESS implements this. Every ESS has a communications link back to a Network Operations Centre (NOC) that acts as a central control point. The name EnerNOC comes from a concatenation of Energy and NOC. The following photograph shows the NOC.

From the NOC, EDM can be implemented by either curtailing loads at the customer site or by starting diesel generators at the customer site. In either case load is removed from the grid, reestablishing stability.

EnerNOC is paid by the TSO for every MW of load removed from the grid. At times of grid instability the TSO is prepared to pay far more for load shedding than the normal cost of electricity. This money, paid by the TSO, is shared between EnerNOC and EnerNOCs customer.

Tim Healy is the CEO of EnerNOC. With a name like that there has got to be an Irish link there somewhere. Click on the following URL if you want to hear Tim talk some more about his company.

http://videoplayer.thestreet.com/TimHealyInterview

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Ireland needs an EDM company with a business model similar to EnerNOC in order to further stabilise our grid so as to allow deeper penetration of wind power. In the Irish case we may also need to add load to the grid for stability to compensate at times that wind exceeds forecasted energy output. This could be done by using refrigeration or HVAC loads whose thermostat could be controlled. So, for example, a refrigeration plant normally run at -10C could go to -12C at times of surplus wind energy. Later when energy was scarce (and therefore more expensive) the thermostat could be reset to -10C.

It is my prime business objective to setup an Irish EDM company.

Photographs are used with permission of EnerNOC, Inc.

The work that Google are doing on solar energy and hybrid cars is fascinating. Reading the following blog from Google though adds a new element to the mix.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/06/clean-energy-update.html

Google are growing a fleet of plug in hybrid cars. These are standard hybrid cars with larger batteries fitted and the ability to charge from the electricity grid. The blog also mentions vehicle to grid (V2G) technology. This allows the bidirectional transfer of electricity between the electricity grid and the plug in hybrid.

In the context of Ireland’s need to consume surplus wind generated electricity, electric vehicle or hybrid vehicle batteries would be an ideal candidate for energy storage where the stored energy replaced fossil fuels when consumed on the following day. According to the Irish Examiner (19 June 2007), Toyota are selling 400 Prius hybrid cars per annum in Ireland. Obviously the installed base would have to be much higher to have a significant impact on grid stability.