Honeywell has announced a smart grid project that will help Scottish & Southern Energy connect up to 30 commercial and industrial buildings in the Thames Valley area west of London, UK, and temporarily reduce electricity consumption when overall use spikes. Its purpose is to alleviate the potential for future transmission and distribution bottlenecks as the peak demand for energy grows. It will also enable building operators to decrease their energy use, utility bills and carbon dioxide emissions.
Under the £30 million New Thames Valley Vision (NTVV) project recently awarded to Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution (SSEPD) by UK energy regulator Ofgem, Honeywell will install automated demand response (Auto DR) technology in the selected facilities.
The utility will then work with these customers to trim peak electricity use, and reduce strain on the local networks and substations, which are nearing capacity — creating a more robust, agile grid but less disruptively and at lower cost tha the alternative of installing infrastructure upgrades.
The project builds on a successful Auto DR demonstration in Bracknell, England, where Honeywell proved that a commercial building could quickly shed up to 45 percent of its electrical load during peak hours. The result of the pilot prompted SSE to expand the use of the technology. Honeywell expects the full-scale project will give the utility the ability to shave approximately 10 megawatts of energy use when necessary.
