Transmission Congestion Avoidance
Challenge: Deliver an adequate energy supply, but defer the high cost of grid system upgrade or replacement.
Perhaps the highest cost asset challenge to energy providers today is the capacity of existing transmission infrastructure to reliably deliver energy across the service territory. Transmission lines are continually under pressure due to their age and to development and the expanding length of peak period demand.
New transmission construction and even line upgrades take a great deal of time to permit, and can range in price from a quarter to a half million dollars per mile, and many times much more. Relief for system operators would be welcome from both a cost to build and service perspective, and to defer NIMBY objections.
Demand Energy Solution: Distributed Demand Shifters™ that charge at the edge of the grid during low congestion periods then discharge as required to ease congestion during periods of high demand.
Charged Demand Shifters distributed throughout a service territory can be ordered to discharge during times of high demand, easing the requirement to deliver the high voltage loads that severely tax the aging delivery system. Lower transmission congestion can often extend the useful life of those assets and defer capital investment.
The provider charges Demand Shifters during off-peak periods, then dispatches load as demand increases.
Value: Relieve overload conditions on transmission assets, reducing the possibility of failure and at the same time avoiding or deferring the high cost of system upgrade.
Transmission Congestion Avoidance
The Demand Shifters installed throughout the service territory have the capacity to dispatch energy as demand builds, relieving the need to deliver high energy loads over stressed transmission assets.