ERCOT To Consider Alternative Participation Models For ADERs, Address "Blocky" Resources

ERCOT Recommends Allowing ADERs To Provide ECRS

December 14, 2023

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Copyright 2010-23 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

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ERCOT is recommending expanding the ancillary service product eligibility for the Aggregate Distributed Energy Resource (ADER) pilot to include ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service (ECRS)

"ERCOT recommends expanding ECRS eligibility to include ADERs capable of meeting the requirements of providing this service, as defined within the ERCOT Protocol," ERCOT says in a presentation filed in advance of a task force meeting tomorrow

ERCOT noted, "This has been requested by ADER participants and is an opportunity to increase their participation in the market, while allowing for continued monitoring by ERCOT and the participants through the Pilot Project."

ERCOT will also consider alternative participation models for ADERs, though it encouraged the task force to study the issue more and did not make recommendations at this time

Under the current program rules, ADERs must be SCED-dispatchable to participate in the Pilot Project. This requirement may preclude the participation of some Resource types that are able to respond to ERCOT instruction but lack the ability to smoothly ramp over a 5-minute interval, ERCOT noted "It may be possible to increase ADER Pilot Project participation by considering enabling a participation framework for a 'blocky' Resource type," ERCOT suggested

ERCOT said that, prior to making a formal recommendation on whether and how to proceed with enabling participation of this Resource type, ERCOT and stakeholders would need to consider the following:

• To what extent is this Resource enabled to participate today? What barriers exist?

• What system changes would be required to fully enable the participation of this Resource type and what would be the commitment in terms of cost, resourcing and time?

• When and how could this work be accommodated given existing commitments?

• What is the scope of potential benefit (e.g., in terms of additional Resources/MW capability that may be enabled) of developing this framework?

ERCOT also encouraged discussion of alternatives to dispatch using Load Zone shift factors

Under the current participation model, ADERs are dispatched using Load Zone shift factors, and settled at their respective Load Zone price.

The use of Load Zone shift factors may not be an accurate reflection of these Resources’ impact on power system flow and, therefore, transmission congestion, ERCOT said

ERCOT staff has begun evaluating an alternative method to calculate ADER shift factors, which is based on the electrical bus shift factor for each premise in the ADER weighted by the maximum injection capability of each premise and divided by the ADER’s total maximum injection capability.

ERCOT noted that, "While maximum injection capability has been used up to this point, a long-term approach will have to account for the fact that there may not be 'injection capability' for each of the premises or devices within the aggregation."

ERCOT further said, "Intuitively, the use of these 'quasi-nodal' shift factors should result in improvements to overall congestion management. However, the current data indicate the impacts may be limited thus far."

"The recommendation for Phase 2 of the Pilot Project is to continue with the existing Load Zone shift factor paradigm and to continue to examine this issue for potential reliability risks and market inefficiencies," ERCOT said

ERCOT reported that currently the only two active ADERs are the previously reported ADERs comprised of consumers with Tesla Powerwalls

ERCOT noted that six additional ADERs have ERCOT-accepted Details of the Aggregation forms in place and are at various stages in the registration and qualification process.

Project No. 53911

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