GRIDresponse improves deployment and operation of large- and small-scale demand response assets
RALEIGH, N.C. (November 2, 2010) — GRIDiant Corporation, specializing in smart grid management software, has released its latest enterprise grid optimization application, GRIDresponseTM. This software solution was designed for utilities and curtailment service providers (CSPs) that want to maximize the effectiveness of demand response (DR) programs while minimizing their impact on customers. Part of an advanced grid management suite, GRIDresponse gives utilities the ability to strategically deploy the DR solution where it will maximize energy savings.
“We are very excited about the addition of GRIDresponse to our GRIDmaster application suite,” said Larry Hagewood, GRIDiant CEO. “We are proud to provide value to utilities by leveraging their existing system investment for more efficient control and intelligent management.”
GRIDresponse is based on the analysis of real load and loss profiles in the distribution network. The software produces actionable information for utility operators and planners at speeds limited only by the data flow rate from the grid. Using a patented resource ranking approach, GRIDresponse clearly identifies optimal DR to minimize system losses. The approach determines which customer locations are best for demand management in order to meet system objectives – cost, losses and asset loading levels – while not overburdening particular groups of customers with DR requests.
Study results indicate high-ranked DR customer-clusters can provide up to 30 percent more load reduction based on location-specific distribution system conditions than lower-ranked loads. In practice, this means that a 1MW demand reduction at high-ranked customer meters can provide as much as 1.3 MW peak load reduction at the substation and on upstream through transmission and generation. Without GRIDresponse, grid operators can only roughly estimate where they could find the best DR value, with little consideration for customer “DR fatigue.”
The GRIDmaster software suite consists of six applications including GRIDresponse, GRIDfast, GRIDview, GRIDplan, GRIDops, and GRIDassets. GRIDiant provides a package of professional services and enabling software to support these applications. GRIDfast was recently validated as part of IBM’s Solution Architecture for Energy and Utilities Framework (SAFE) program, a software platform that provides network visibility and control, process automation and business collaboration for smart grid vendors and utilities.
Currently, GRIDiant partners with IBM, KEMA, CISCO, WESCO and New Power Technologies to supply complementary services such as system integration, program management and integrated grid performance.
The screenshot below illustrates how GRIDresponse prioritizes system loads based on loss ranking in tabular and geographical view. The locations are color-coded based on their impact toward maximum loss reduction.
