Technical Innovation

DEMOCRASI is the second project launched by Bracebridge Generation, under parent company Lakeland Holding, and uses the assets of the initial SPEEDIER project. For this project, Bracebridge Generation has again partnered with Opus One, using their Grid-OS® Optimization Engine, and also Kiwi Power, to integrate their Core Aggregator Platform. The result is a joint product solution that allows the assets to participate in the electricity markets in a way that is safe for the grid, giving utilities visibility of all assets, and also allowing for local markets, such as peak shaving.

Nature of Technological Advancement

The key technological advancement is the development and deployment of a solution that not only provides DER management to address localized distribution level needs but a solution that provides:

  • Detailed modeling of the distribution grid and interconnected DR and DER assets
  • Coordinated scheduling and optimization of DER asset operations for bulk services while maintaining resiliency, and reliability across the distribution network
  • DR-DER dispatch and control for both individual and aggregated assets
  • Direct, two-way communication with DER assets to provide measurement, monitoring, control, scheduling, dispatch, settlement, and reporting
  • Ability to provide new bulk power services (to the IESO or AESO) such as supply of capacity, energy, ancillary services, and frequency regulation using DR and DER assets

Solutions with subsets of these capabilities have been deployed, however this project will be the first of its kind to provide a comprehensive solution, addressing each of these items.

Kiwi Power, Opus One and Bracebridge Generation are creating a one of a kind technology solution that addresses both distribution system needs as well as bulk market requirements, doing so concurrently in order to facilitate a complete system optimization. The solution brings together Opus One’s GridOS® Optimization Engine and Kiwi Power’s aggregated DERMS platform CORE, deploying this joint solution on Bracebridge Generation assets for live network results.

GridOS® Optimization Engine

The GridOS® optimization engine, or GridOS-OE® has several key features that distinguish it from other purely power flow optimization solutions on the market.

 

  • 3-phase AC unbalanced IEC CIM network models rather than single phase balanced models in proprietary network model formats
  • A security constrained AC optimal power flow (SC-AC-OPF) rather than simple power flow to solve the most complex optimization problems
  • Parallel processing capabilities with auto scaling of resources to provide ideal performance while managing server cost

 

The GridOS-OE® signifies what GridOS® stands for in terms of modularity serving a magnitude of solutions, from in-house solutions, such as our planning application, to GIS support to run power flow, to operational deployments running OPF solutions on distribution networks with more than 400 HV-MV stations every minute.

Kiwi CORE™

CORE™ helps utilities to connect with millions of assets to run any demand response, constraint management or energy efficiency program. CORE™ is designed as a generic platform that can be customized to meet the project requirements. The Dispatch Manager built into the CORE™ platform will support the following activities:

  • Set asset loads to any value between zero and maximum capacity (MW/kW)
  • Choose the most reliable assets to dispatch at any given time
  • Replace failed dispatches with the next most suitable site to avoid under and over delivery