AutoGrid and sonnen to foster energy storage adoption

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San Francisco Bay Area-based AutoGrid Systems, and German battery integrator sonnen have partnered to help energy project developers, utilities and other energy service providers better manage, optimize and aggregate sonnen’s battery systems and other distributed energy resources (DERs). The agreement will fully integrate AutoGrid Flex energy management capabilities with sonnen’s residential and commercial energy storage technology systems.

Among flexibility value streams that may be enhanced through the partnership are: optimizing self-consumption in real time across multiple factors including peak demand charges and time-varying prices; participating in utility demand response and resource adequacy programs; and creating a virtual power plant to participate in wholesale capacity, energy and ancillary services markets.

AutoGrid applications are all built on the AutoGrid Energy Internet Platform (EIP), with patented Predictive Controls technology that leverages petabytes of smart meter, sensor and third-party data, along with powerful data science and high-performance computing algorithms, to monitor, predict, optimize and control the operations of millions of assets connected across global energy networks.

The AutoGrid Flex application suite provides advanced forecasting, real-time controls and scalable architecture to manage large numbers of distributed sonnenBatterie systems in combination with other DERs. This fleet management is key to optimizing the utilization of battery storage capacity for both the local site and the regional grid network, and AutoGrid Flex is already integrated with multiple wholesale markets, including CAISO, PJM and ERCOT, and underpins several of the world’s leading utility DER systems.

Designed to optimize all DER asset categories including distributed generation, battery storage, and demand response resources, AutoGrid Flex provides out-of-the-box support for all prevalent grid services and wholesale market programs spanning all customer segments – residential, commercial and industrial – through its three main applications: AutoGrid DROMS, an enterprise-grade demand response management system; AutoGrid DERMS, a distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) for providing targeted distribution-level grid-services; and AutoGrid VPP, a virtual power plant (VPP) solution for participation in wholesale markets.

“By integrating our technologies in the U.S. market, sonnen and AutoGrid provide a solution that elegantly and intelligently manages DERs, including grid-connected sonnenBatterie systems, maximizing return-on-asset, reducing project delivery time and unlocking new revenue streams for utilities, energy project developers and energy managers,” said Christoph Ostermann, CEO of sonnen GmbH. “In Germany we have seen the value the virtual power plant model provides in balancing energy supply and demand by aggregating our sonnenBatterie systems. By adding AutoGrid Flex’s ability to optimize DER assets in support of grid services and wholesale energy programs for the U.S. market, our smart sonnenBatterie energy management systems will accelerate the adoption of a smarter, cleaner utility grid by reducing integration costs, improving ROI and increasing the use of DERs,” he adds.

“sonnen’s advanced battery storage systems are already accelerating the world’s transition to a more distributed, renewable-friendly energy grid. By providing a platform that enables energy service providers to more easily aggregate these distributed storage systems, we will further accelerate this transformation,” said Dr. Amit Narayan, CEO of AutoGrid. “Our new partnership with sonnen will combine AutoGrid Flex software with sonnen’s intelligent battery storage systems, delivering higher project ROI to energy project developers and utilities who are seeking to deploy and manage fleets of DERs,” he added.

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