Customer:

Nova Scotia Power Inc.

Status:

Complete

Objective:

To achieve an improved reliability and power delivery model to the customers of Nova Scotia Power by implementing a management software platform.

Solution:

The solution involved the deployment of a feeder-based microgrid featuring a substation battery energy storage system, wind resources and residential energy storage systems to deliver improved reliability to Nova Scotia’s grid and customers. By using our GridOS – Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS) and sensors, Nova Scotia Power gained visibility of its network and was able to optimize the dispatch of these resources. The solution also offered constraint management capabilities, allowing the utility to receive alerts and alarms upon constrain scenarios for automatic curtailment, trip and counter-dispatch to maintain system operational limits.

Outcomes:

In the middle of Hurricane Dorian, the residential battery storage systems provided 18 hours and 53 minutes of backup power during an outage. Over the 12 months the microgrid has been operated, more than 10 people in Nova Scotia Power’s operations team have been fully trained on using DERMS to meet grid needs, especially in challenging weather conditions. The GridOS-DERMS solution also allowed the utility to charge the substation battery storage system in just two hours as part of its storm preparation strategy, as well as shave peak demand, improve power factor and improve feeder loading variance due to wind output.