Orange & Rockland Implements REV Demonstration Project

Orange & Rockland (O&R), a subsidiary of Con Edison serving southeastern New York and northern New Jersey, filed an implementation plan for its three-year “Optimal Export Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) Demonstration Project,” on Friday.

The project will partner O&R with Smarter Grid Solutions, a software designer based in Glasgow, Scotland that specializes in Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems (DERMS).

“This project proposes to use advanced control and inverter functionality, along with supporting technologies, to optimize the export of photovoltaic (PV) generation to the company’s distribution system,” Roberta Scerbo, director of O&R’s Utility of the Future department, said.

The project will use a combination of hardware and software components and will be controlled locally as opposed to a platform level. The New York Independent System Operator would continue to be responsible for keeping the grid in balance.

O&R is hoping that the new technology will alleviate the need to build new infrastructure.

“Currently, the size of a PV array may be limited due to local distribution constraints,” Scerbo said. “The goal of this project is to test technology which would monitor and control the PV array to not exceed the distribution constraint, potentially avoiding the need for costly infrastructure upgrades.”

Three separate criteria will judge the success of the project. The first is processed applications, which will provide insight into developer interest and appetite for alternative interconnection solutions. The second is export capacity, which will provide insight into capacity changes driven by alternative interconnection solutions, while the third is interconnection cost, which will provide insight into the cost benefits of using alternative solutions, instead of traditional interconnection mitigations.

Meeting New York’s REV Initiative objectives of looking to build a cleaner, affordable and more resilient energy system, the project will allow O&R “to gain invaluable experience in alternative interconnection technology, which may inform the company’s transition to a distributed system platform,” Scerbo said.

In particular, the project hopes to entice solar developers to participate by offering an “alternative connection technology as opposed to expensive infrastructure upgrades.” The third party developers will play a key role in the project.

“O&R does not develop generation projects, nor does the company manufacture monitoring and control technology,” Scerbo said. “To meet the goals of the project, and in support of New York State’s clean energy goals, O&R is happy to partner with developers and third-party vendors to make this project a success.”