Smart Grid Nova Scotia (SGNS)

Lead Proponent

Nova Scotia Power

Project Background

The Smart Grid Nova Scotia (SGNS) project was designed to assess whether there are customer and grid benefits associated with the deployment of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) managed by a Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS). These technologies were rolled out together, underpinned by corresponding customer programs, such as incentives, participation agreements, and a pilot rate rider for solar garden subscribers. The project is part of the larger Smart Grid Atlantic (SGA) initiative, developed in partnership with the Government of Canada, the Province of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick Power (NB Power), Siemens Canada (Siemens), the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC), and the Town of Amherst.

The desired learnings from this project included:

• Understand the capability of integrating a variety of DER assets to execute use cases
• DERMS experience, benefits framework, and valuation
• Advance utility experience with behind the meter emerging technologies
• Electrification & Renewable Integration enablement
• Customer behavior insights, support design, and development of future programs

Results

The project successfully deployed the following distributed energy resource technologies and systems:

• Deployment of a centralized energy system platform (ESP) for DER control and dispatch (i.e. the DERMS)
• Installed 134 residential batteries
• Commissioned three solar + battery systems at Commercial & Industrial customer sites
• 2 MW community solar garden
• Installed 100 EV smart chargers
• Onboarded an additional 125 customers to ev.energy for EV telematics
• Installed two bi-directional chargers
• Addition of a joint Efficiency One/Nova Scotia Power pilot integrating Siemens’ Battery Management Software (BSM) with Siemens Energy Systems Platform (ESP, i.e. the DERMS) to control various equipment for building management at three commercial customer sites

The project tested the effectiveness of management of DERs to deliver benefits related to affordability, reliability and environmental compliance, with or without DERMS integration. The project developed several use cases and associated metrics in order to evaluate potential benefits by asset class. The use cases were updated over time and reported on in Nova Scotia Power’s semi-annual reporting to the Regulator. At the project end, various use cases by asset class were successfully tested and evaluated.

Benefits to Canada

The SGNS project demonstrated, with varying degrees of results, affordability, reliability, and environmental compliance. The below summary of these categories by asset class are benefits to both Stakeholders and Canadians.

• Electric Vehicle Charging: Demonstrated long-term affordability benefit, energy cost savings for participants, and short- and long-term greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits.
• Residential Batteries: Demonstrated high availability of back-up power to participants, fuel savings, and emissions reductions.
• Commercial & Industrial Batteries: Extrapolated fuel savings, emissions reductions, and power factor correction.
• Commercial & Industrial Smart Solar Inverters: Demonstrated power factor correction contributing to cost-effective renewable energy integration, contributions to reliability through advanced inverter functions supporting over-under voltage response and frequency response, and potential for reduction in emissions.
• Commercial & Industrial Building Management Systems – Demonstrated demand response contributing to affordability, fuel cost and emissions reductions through load shifting.
• Solar Garden – Demonstrated provision of clean energy at margin cost and carbon emissions reductions.

Next Steps

The culmination of the project has led to several key findings, the most prominent of which are that the management of DERs has been demonstrated to provide benefits in affordability, reliability, and environmental compliance. These learnings will inform Nova Scotia Power’s strategies on how DERs can best deliver these benefits.