Post: GridBeyond pulls behind-the-meter storage into aggregated unit

GridBeyond pulls behind-the-meter storage into aggregated unit

In a market first, GridBeyond executes on its strategy of bringing distributed energy storage assets together as one resource to access to National Grid Electricity System Operator’s (ESO) suite of dynamic services – Dynamic Containment, Dynamic Moderation, and Dynamic Regulation.

When it comes to participating in grid services, size matters. But many distributed energy resources are smaller than the size required. In addition in the UK aggregated unit need to be physically located within the same Grid Supply Point (GSP) area. This presents two problems : market access and locational challenges. However, there are benefits in aggregating smaller units. On their own smaller sub-1MW units provide minimal frequency response value, but, when aggregated together, deliver significant value for grid balancing services. Both of these points are especially prevalent with the decommissioning of the Dynamic Fast Frequency Response (DFFR) service in Q4 of this year.

On 1 September GridBeyond marked a milestone in these efforts, announcing that it’s actively bidding an aggregation of three behind-the-meter battery systems into National Grid ESO’s new dynamic services (Dynamic Containment (DC), Dynamic Moderation (DM), Dynamic Regulation (DR)). Using the structures and the rules in place, GridBeyond’s first aggregated DC/DM/DR unit aims to prove that behind-the-meter distributed storage can be an asset to the system while delivering significant value for our customers.

But tying together distributed resources to meet these scale requirements is both a technical and a policy challenge. First, we’ve got to prove that lots of independently located and controlled systems can respond as a unit. Second, we’ve got to create the grid programs and market mechanisms that permit these aggregated resources to play the roles this capability opens up to them.