Reducing Peak Demand through Distributed Grid Edge Control

Conventional methods of achieving peak demand reduction for rural cooperatives have allowed 1-2% control during heavy loaded condition without violating customer-side ANSI voltage limits. Distributed grid edge control presents a promising approach for doubling or tripling this benefit by deriving significant value for utilities in the form of voltage support, loss reduction, and peak demand reduction to name a few. Using autonomous dynamic var injection, grid edge devices can flatten the secondary voltage profile at a fixed setpoint. A swarm action of multiple var devices on the system help to flatten the feeder voltage profile and provide additional voltage reduction. Setpoint commands can be dispatched to the installed group of grid edge devices via a central software platform (Grid Edge Management System), which also provides visualization and analytics. Situational awareness is improved by knowing in near real-time the system voltage at many points on the system and having active regulation at those locations.