POWER November 2021 - 6

Canada Project Highlights Value
of DERs
Groups involved in the energy market
in Ontario, Canada, have joined in a pilot
project to simulate a local distribution
energy trading market platform,
designed to demonstrate improved
customer participation on the grid
along with electricity cost control. The
project, which involves three local distribution
companies (LDCs), along with
the province's grid operator and the
Independent Electricity System Operator
(IESO), aims to provide a model for
areas that want to study the economic
and technical impacts of creating a localized
energy market that would allow
LDCs to utilize distributed energy resources
(DERs), including smaller solar
power installations, electricity storage,
small natural gas-fueled generators, and
electric vehicles (EVs). The participants
said the pilot project will demonstrate
the benefits of a dynamic market platform
and how it can optimize the use of
DERs, looking at the value of DERs to
the grid, and removing barriers to DER
participation. It also could help in the
development of distribution locational
marginal pricing (DLMP) models, and
in this case, support the evolution of
Ontario's electricity system, while highlighting
the value of renewable energy.
" There is a need to facilitate market
participation of grid-edge devices, with
transactions and markets that consider
the unique capabilities of those resources
as distinct from larger generators, "
Ben Ullman, product manager for Transactive
Energy at Opus One Solutions,
whose GridOS software is the backbone
of the project, told POWER. " That need
is codified in regulations such as FERC
2222 [for the U.S. market] which allow
for market participation of DERs above
100 kw, as well as core to projects ... in
which local devices participate in a market
for constraint management. "
The participating LDCs are contributing
to the project by hosting the network
model being developed in the pilot. The
IESO, as the province's electricity market
operator, contributes by bringing its power
market experience, along with price signal
data, and by providing financial support.
Katherine Sparks, director for Innovation,
Research, and Development at the
IESO, said, " Ontario businesses and communities
are increasingly using technolo6
gies
like solar panels, energy storage, and
demand management tools to meet their
own energy needs. This project joins other
pilot projects across the province that
the IESO is testing to see how we can
organize these resources through local
electricity markets, so they can help meet
growing electricity demand, improve reliability,
and drive down costs. "
The LDCs involved in the project are
Hydro Ottawa (Figure 1), Toronto Hydro,
and Bracebridge Generation, a municipally
owned generation company that
has operated in the province since the
1890s. Bracebridge today operates nine
generating
plants
in
five area watersheds.
Hydro Ottawa has been in operation
since 1916; Toronto Hydro has
operated since the early 1900s.
Vince Kulchycki, COO of Bracebridge
Generation, said the project is important
for the utility's future operations. " Our
organization is currently looking at DERs,
how they will affect the grid, and how
they can improve our electricity system, "
said Kulchycki. " This project is providing
solutions that work hand in hand with
our assets, offering market access in a
way that will benefit our customers. "
The project utilizes Opus One Solutions'
GridOS Transactive Energy Management
System, which in this case
simulates a local and operational transactive
energy market. Opus One said
that in the simulation, aggregators submit
their bids and offers for registered
DER assets in day-ahead and same-day
markets. The platform then generates
location and time-specific price signals
to enable system operators to create
coordinated dispatch schedules, with a
goal of allowing the grid to continue operating
safely, while highlighting the locational
value of DER services. The LDCs
then have " the ability to use the platform
to evaluate how DERs can serve load
and resolve system constraints through
market-based contracts, creating market
paths to revenue for DER services based
on capacity, energy, and system resiliency, "
according to the companies.
" The software is well-suited to market
operation regardless of whether the network
is rural or urban, as long as there are
participants and data informing system
needs and capabilities, " Ullman told POWER.
He said, " The collaboration between
Opus One and the LDCs demonstrates a
path to market access for DERs through
www.powermag.com
1. Hydro Ottawa in 2016 became the sole
owner of the generation assets at the interprovincial
Chaudière Falls site, with the
purchase of a 27-MW station from Hydro
Quebec. Courtesy: Hydro Ottawa
energy system coordination. That coordination
results in time- and location-specific
compensation for DERs based on not only
utility programs, but also bulk-system
programs, and provides a path to societal
compensation for carbon abatement. "
The LDCs are looking at the project as
a way to demonstrate a market-based
revenue model for DERs to provide energy
and ancillary services. That would
allow the LDCs to provide economical
energy services, while continuing to ensure
reliable and resilient grid operation.
The companies said that focusing on the
" network impact of DERs by combining
all asset types into a centralized market
grants open access to market participants,
and more equitable, streamlined
cost socialization for the LDC. " Said Ullman:
" The advantage for the utility is
lower energy costs for consumers as
well as increased system reliability
through use of customer-owned assets. "
The project is aligned with Canada's
goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,
which includes support for innovative technologies
in the energy sector. " Due to the
goal, LDCs will need to adapt and adopt
these technologies to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions and reach climate action
goals, " said Hari Subramaniam, Chief of
Strategic Growth and Commercial Officer
at Opus One Solutions. " The marketplace
developed through this project provides
an opportunity for LDCs to empower their
customer base to participate in energy transition
while ensuring cost consciousness. "
" Transactive Energy is important to
help our grids be more cost-effective and
enable more direct customer participation.
We aim to support our customers to
adopt DERs, to empower them to make
energy choices that meet their needs,
and to build a more sustainable future, "
said Guillaume Paradis, Chief Electricity
POWER | November 2021
http://www.powermag.com
POWER November 2021

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