Ajax, Ontario: Veridian Connections announced the launch January 13 of an innovative microgrid project that will integrate multiple sources of residential clean energy, while “maximizing load efficiencies and energy utilization levels for its customers.”
Opus One Solutions, a prominent software engineering and solutions company in Ontario, has been selected to develop and deploy the utility’s residential microgrid project.
“We are excited to partner with Opus One, and look forward to demonstrating the true operation of the microgrid by managing various energy resources – from minimizing the cost of electricity under time-of-use rates, generating credits through the net metering program and responding to utility signals under demand response programs or an optimized combination of them all,” said Veridian President and CEO Michael Angemeer. “This project serves as the ideal opportunity for Veridian to further highlight and enhance the integration of renewables with microgrid operation into Ontario’s energy landscape for our customers. It’s also the first step in developing a system that will allow all types of microgrids to be added to an integrated system that will provide benefits for Veridian and improve the quality of life for our customers.”
The project, expected to commission in Q2 2016, will use Tesla Energy Powerwall battery storage along with residential solar generation and electric vehicle charging, deployed as two residential microgrids connected and managed by Opus One’s GridOS™ Microgrid Energy Management System and Veridian’s 24/7 grid operations system. The components include 10 kW of solar generation, 14 kWh lithium-ion battery storage with hybrid inverter; Level 2 and Level 3 electric vehicle charging – integrated with Veridian’s SCADA system – along with a customer information display at the utility’s corporate headquarters in Ajax; and 7 kWh Tesla Energy Daily Powerwall with solar system and microgrid controls in Pickering. The residential microgrid will be aggregated with Veridian’s corporate headquarters and operated as a “Virtual Power Plant.”
Veridian also recognized Solera Sustainable Energies Company for its participation in the project and its continued support of the utility’s renewable energy work. Veridian, together with Solera and Opus One, intends to keep customers and stakeholders updated on the status of the project, and to do so using its website and twitter account (@VeridianTweets), newsletters, and community information sessions.
With this project Veridian joins PowerStream in deploying multiple sources and functions in a microgrid. See the November 2015 issue of IPPSO FACTO for a description of PowerStream’s pilot system.