Demand management trial set for national roll out

demand management

Origin Energy and UK-based start-up Tempus Energy have revealed participants of its demand management trial in Adelaide have achieved cost savings of up to 21 per cent.

The trial, which used cloud-based artificial intelligence software to shift energy usage to different times of the day was trialled on large Origin Customers in South Australia, including Adelaide Oval and Adelaide University.

Through the integration of Tempus’ cloud-based technology, trial customers have been running assets like industrial air conditioning more flexibly, predicting higher price periods and then shifting non-critical load into times of the day when prices are lower.

Tempus analysis showed that price was very strongly correlated to carbon intensity with high pool prices signalling periods when carbon intensive generators are working. Avoiding these periods has also helped to lower the carbon footprint of these customers achieving carbon savings of up to 21 per cent on assets where the technology is being used.

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Origin executive general manager Energy Supply and Operations Greg Jarvis said, “During the trial, we’ve seen the Tempus algorithms drive a shifting of customer’s usual load to a different time of day in response to predicted high price periods.

“Across all trial customers, the trial has successfully shifted more than 200MWh of load to reduce their cost and carbon emissions.

“Expanding this trial is one way how we are helping our customers find smarter ways to improve how they use energy.”

Origin is a founding member of Free Electrons, a global start-up accelerator where start-ups work with the world’s leading utilities and Tempus was in the 2017 intake.

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Tempus Energy founder and CEO Sara Bell said, “Results like these provide a real signal that the Tempus software can play an important role in helping customers reduce cost and help balance the grid.”

Commercial and industrial electricity users with flexible assets like chillers, heat pumps, grid scale batteries, solar systems and production machinery interested in participating in the trial should contact Origin’s Business Energy Solutions Team at businessenergysolutions@originenergy.com.au. The national roll-out will run until mid-2019.

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