Over the past few years, there has been a significant rise in the impact of weather-related electric disruptions. These issues affect the distribution grid, which accounts for 90% of outages. In the past 5 years, 317 gigawatts of power have been disrupted, affecting 66 million users for long periods. By 2035, the deployment of rapid Distributed Energy Resources like solar, and EVs may surpass utility-scale capacity and support in meeting increased peak demand.
The Role of Distributed Energy Resources
As the waiting lists for permits and connections for utility-scale resources grow, the potential role of rapidly deployable distributed energy resources (DER) is becoming important. Also, In early 2023, grid planners, who had long predicted flat demand, raised their projections and by year’s end doubled their five-year load forecast to 4.7%. Furthermore, US spent a record $28 billion on weather and climate-related disasters in 2023, the warmest year on record.
The Opportunity of Harnessing DER to meet Peak Demand
Utilities can use distributed energy resources to deal with peak demand and grid flexibility issues. When renewable energy is abundant, DERs with storage capacity, such as water heaters, EVs, and house batteries, can absorb extra renewable energy by charging and heating during that time and using the stored energy when the sun sets or the wind picks up. On the other hand, grid-interactive homes may help mitigate a blackout by modifying their thermostats and temporarily delaying EV charging or hot water heating in the case of a generation shortfall during bad weather.
Moreover, When rooftop solar isn’t producing, EVs can also serve as a home’s backup power source to get through blackouts. With the recent acceptance of a new V2G standard by the automobile industry, EVs may now be able to digitally transmit to utilities all the data required to permit controlled bidirectional power flows and payments to EV owners.
Utilities must invest in the proper deployment of DER and digital technologies to enable homeowners to contribute to easing the pressures resulting from these issues. In addition, Utilities need to understand residential DER trends and state decarbonization goals and adjust grid planning, regulations, and data systems to optimize the transforming DER distribution system over the next decade.