PG&E teams up with Schneider Electric for DER management system
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is teaming up with Schneider Electric to deploy a distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) on Microsoft Azure.
The DERMS is designed to effectively maintain grid reliability, as well as accelerate customer adoption of distributed energy resources (DER) such as electric vehicles, energy storage and rooftop solar.
“PG&E is partnering with the best and the brightest to deliver breakthrough solutions for our customers. Having efficient and reliable renewable energy resources integrated into the grid, with a powerful DERMS controlling and synchronizing them means that we can continue to grow the share of renewables in the grid while maintaining safe and reliable power,” Patti Poppe, CEO of PG&E Corp., said. “It’s a customer-focused energy solution that will bolster reliability and affordability on the path to a clean energy future.”
Maintaining reliable energy service has become more challenging with the occurrence of more extreme weather along with heavier demand for electricity. DER provides load flexibility as more renewables come online.
The DERMS technology provides greater visibility into DER behavior and creates an opportunity to control DER intelligently. This system, dubbed EcoStruxure DERMS, is a cloud-based, grid-aware software platform, which runs on Microsoft Azure. It integrates, analyzes, and optimizes data from DER, like solar, electric vehicles, battery energy storage, and microgrids. That data then provides electric grid operators with enhanced communication and coordination capabilities to unlock the value of DER as flexible grid resources.
The collaboration between Microsoft, PG&E, and Schneider Electric symbolizes the power of a unified team with diverse talents and expertise working collaboratively to achieve a new utility-industry standard for integrating DER at scale.
“This methodology empowers utility companies to digitally transform to achieve their sustainability, efficiency, reliability, and flexibility goals. This approach to optimize distributed energy resources is agile enough to keep up with 21st century demands on the grid. A stepwise approach is key in DER implementation to effectively handle short-term goals and prepare for the long-term vision,” Annette Clayton, CEO of Schneider Electric North America, said.
The collaboration builds on Schneider Electric’s 30-year relationship with Microsoft integrating Microsoft Azure, an open cloud computing platform.
“Collaboration is key to addressing the complex global energy challenges and achieving a more sustainable future,” Darryl Willis, corporate vice president, energy & resources industry at Microsoft, said. “Our collaboration showcases the power of combining expertise and leveraging digital innovation to help deliver a future-ready, secure, agile and resilient grid.”
PG&E, a subsidiary of PG&E Corp., is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California.
