Thread by @douglewinenergy

@Tesla & @ERCOT_ISO are holding a workshop on changes proposed by Tesla to enable more local power sources to contribute to grid reliability & lower costs. @ArushiSF is kicking off the workshop w/ an overview of virtual power plants
#energytwitter #txlege
ercot.com/calendar/event…

Virtual power plants (or VPPs) are aggregations of distributed energy resources, or small energy sources close to or at homes and businesses. Take enough small storage or solar or reductions in demand and add them up and you can reach levels that add up to large power plants.

@ArushiSF says DERs are available today but are "unrealized dispatchable assets to ERCOT." @Tesla believes minor changes to existing practice could "immediately unlock grid reliability services from small DERs that can be dispatched as an 'aggregation'" #txlege #txenergy

She points to this article in @pvmagazine
pv-magazine-usa.com/2022/05/26/tes…

Tesla says they approached 200 customers and 64 signed up to participate in an aggregation. Saw "solid performance"
(Btw, @googlenest told the @PUCTX there are 1,000,000 smart themostats in Texas. <10% are in any kind of #demandresponse program. Potential is huge.)
#energytwitter

@Tesla shows that distributed systems can respond in minutes or even seconds (faster than most gas or coal power plants).
#energytwitter #txlege #txenergy

These aggregated resources (batteries in this case) could also provide primary frequence response. The response is "immediate and automatic" to stabilize the grid.

Hopefully @ERCOT_ISO and @PUCTX will embrace this. Could help significantly w/ reliability.
#txlege

Distributed batteries can provide other services beyond PFR including Reg-Up and Reg-Down and other ancillary services. cc: @xiaowang1984
#energytwitter #txenergy

Next speaker is Paul Wattles, ex-ERCOT staff, now consulting for Tesla. Paul is as smart as they come, especially on these issues. Was deeply involved in many previous efforts like Loads in SCED & Multi Interval Real Time Market.

Starts with this quote from Cmsr Glotfelty.

Wattles said this Other Binding Document Revision Request (OBDRR) started back in 2013 (!) but they didn't know then what distributed batteries could do.

The intent is to clarify how devices can participate and how they can be compensated for the value they bring to the grid.

These are the key elements of OBDRR041 which can be found here:
ercot.com/mktrules/issue…
#energytwitter

Wattles refers to a change coming at ERCOT where some loads (e.g. Bitcoin) will be settled nodally instead of zonally (to be discussed at Wholesale Markets Subcmte tmrw). This OBDRR wouldn't change that for these smaller loads & resources which would still be settled zonally.

@Tesla's @ArushiSF cites changes made by @californiapuc to pay customers for the value of their batteries. She also says Texas is behind many other markets and states with no long term plan to integrated local energy sources.
#energytwitter #txlege

A couple more slides about longer term solutions from @Tesla

@James_McGinniss of @TheDavidEnergy is up next. This slide tells a very important story. The grid is changing rapidly, so rapidly it has our heads spinning. This is coming with each additional electric car and truck, solar panel, smart thermostat, etc.
#energytwitter #txlege

Shows a slide he think this is a conservative estimate of a 4x increase in connected devices in the next 3-4 years and 10x increase in 8 years, from 100m devices to 1 billion by 2030.
#txenergy

@TheDavidEnergy is a retail electric provider that moves loads to reduce costs and increase reliability. It's "more dependable" to aggregate these resources. Notes that the discussion has been about batteries but other resources can participate
#energytwitter

@James_McGinniss says most #demandresponse has been focued on large businesses but there are large opportunities for residential and small businesses, too. Here are some of the brands like @Generac @googlenest @Ford etc. they are working with

McGinnis of @TheDavidEnergy points out the amount of non-spin reserve (NSRS) now being procured, and how his company uses these demand side aggregated resources as a physical hedge.
#energytwitter

I'm now fully through the looking glass as I'm tweeting an image of my own tweet but it's in @James_McGinniss presentation! Thanks for the shout out.

And yes, large reserve margins don't mean a whole lot and virtual power plants can help w/reliability.
#txlege #txenergy

McGinnis says there are about 7GW of distributed resources (in perspective, Texas four nuke units are ~5GW) that are unused today.

#energytwitter

The existing programs barely provide any payment for the value these resources could deliver if used.

And lastly @James_McGinniss points to this project to put solar and storage at multifamily sites but without payment for the value brought to the grid, these projects likely won't scale.
#energytwitter
canarymedia.com/articles/solar…

Next presentation is from Jamie Charles of @Sunnova_Solar. Rhey have 207k custoemrs and in Q4 2021, 19% of solar installations had batteries. This slide shows how they integrate various energy resources in the home.
#energytwitter

Like @Tesla and @TheDavidEnergy and many other companies, @Sunnova_Solar is aggregating customer resources and selling them into grids around the country. This one company has 150MW bid and awarded into markets.

@Sunnova_Solar cited the need for streamlined interconnection of distributed energy resources, something the @PUCTX has cited as a priority. This question is one of the questions the PUC asked in the DER docket. Comments due June 15. interchange.puc.texas.gov/Documents/5160…
#txlege #txenergy

The last presentation is from @Shell's Greg Thurner, another person who has been in these DER discussions at @ERCOT_ISO for a decade or more. He says data centers (and bitcoin miners) can provide lots of services but aggregations of smaller resources cannot.
#energytwitter

Thurner of @Shell lays out "the ask" & pays homage to the DREAM task force which he chaired years ago. (I wrote about it for @REWorld).

He says we should consier "system wide aggregations for ancillary services" to increase reliability and competition.

renewableenergyworld.com/solar/texas-gr…

Thurner challenges market participants to "raise the bar" and quotes @PUCTX Chairman Lake saying he "can't think of anything more important" for the development of #demandresponse than to "put a value on it.' Hear, hear. #txlege #energytwitter