A Primer on VPP Performance: Part Two

This summer has been crucial for virtual power plants (VPPs). Frequent periods of blistering temperatures have been the norm in many parts of the U.S., triggering an uptick in grid events in all regions where we operate. Leap and our technology partners have successfully risen to the challenge, dispatching flexible support to the grid whenever grid events are called. 

But, how do we ensure that every distributed energy resource (DER) participating with Leap responds to all these grid events as expected? Last time, we discussed the fundamentals of VPP performance: how we define, measure and evaluate how aggregations of DERs respond to grid events. Today, we’ll dig deeper into improving VPP performance, exploring our strategies to diagnose performance issues and how to leverage the Leap platform’s capabilities to maximize dispatching and analytics. 

So, what is “good” VPP performance?

There are hundreds of different demand response and other grid services programs across the country, and they can vary widely in their definitions and calculations for reporting performance. As a result, defining strong performance also varies by program.

Many obligation programs have minimum standards of performance required for "passing" a grid event. These standards (and associated penalties) vary by market. To give a few examples:

⚡Texas' Emergency Response Service (ERS) program requires participants to perform above 95% of their commitment to the market in order to “pass” a test or emergency event, and multiple failed-tests have revenue impacts and can lead to suspension from participation in the market. 

➡️ The ERS program places a strong value on VPPs that can respond rapidly, focusing on resources that can respond to dispatches within 10 or 30 minutes. 

⚡The NYISO Special Case Resources (SCR) Program also sets a high performance threshold, incentivizing participants to perform at 100% by imposing penalties and nomination de-rates on underperformance that can impact future revenue. 

➡️ One nuance to determining “good” performance in SCR is the NYISO’s use of two separate baselines. The 100% performance threshold is set against the Average Coincident Load (ACL) baseline - which measures historical load across the hours when the grid was most constrained - while energy revenues are assessed against a separate Customer Baseline Load (CBL) calculation.

⚡California’s Resource Adequacy (RA) programs do not publish a single threshold for passing; however, assets that participate in California RA programs undergo a detailed third-party analysis that looks at annual performance by season, load type and dispatch duration. If participants underperform relative to their obligations, their future participation could be restricted.

Navigating these varied requirements can be challenging for VPP participants, especially those operating across multiple markets. Leap has a dedicated team of energy market experts focused on helping our partners optimize their performance in all of their grid programs.

How can VPP performance be improved?

We have identified several important factors at each stage of VPP operations that can influence a device’s response to grid events. Here are some of the top questions we consider to diagnose performance issues: 

Device Enrollment

• Does the device have control over load? Have all communication and operations needs been met in order to ensure proper device response when requested?

• Have all customer authorization processes or third-party approval processes been completed correctly?

Setting Nominations

• Is there a reliable estimate of the device’s capabilities and ability to impact the meter’s load and deliver performance during the program hours?

• Are nominations correctly sized relative to the device’s load and ability to curtail?

• Have nominations been adjusted to account for changing capabilities overtime (e.g. changes due to season, climate, rainfall, etc.)?

• Are device nominations updated for the current season?

Preparing to Dispatch

• Has an end-to-end dispatch integration test been conducted?

• Are dispatching signals set up to cover the full duration of the dispatch event? 

• Do the start and end times of dispatch signals line up across Leap, the technology partner and end device?

• Has the device been offline for a long period? If so, has the meter been idled? (e.g., hardware outages, servicing, wifi outages.)

Post-Event Analysis

• Did all the devices receive the dispatch signal? 

• Did all the devices respond to the event? Is that response reflected in the meter load as expected?

• How did the meter or aggregation perform against the market commitment? 

• Does the baseline appear to accurately reflect what usage would look like in the absence of a grid event?

• Did all the devices curtail load for the entire period of the dispatch period?

We help our partners understand how to best leverage our platform to answer these and other questions to improve performance and increase revenue.

How does Leap help improve performance?

Improving VPP performance is core to Leap’s mission: it’s key to delivering more value both to the grid and to our technology partners. We’ve dedicated significant effort to developing platform capabilities that simplify the process for our partners to manage their nominations, dispatches and performance improvements, ultimately helping them increase their VPP revenue.

Our Partner Portal makes it easy to track and respond to grid program events across all markets. Partners can also schedule their own test events in order to ensure that dispatch integrations and operation processes are working as expected before active grid program participation. 

The more we can help our partners automate their VPP operations, the more we can reduce sources of error and inefficiencies that can affect performance. To that end, we built Leap’s APIs to streamline key workflows. Our Dispatch API automates notifications and event processing, eliminating many of the manual steps previously needed to respond to grid events. The operational efficiency that comes from near real-time dispatch notifications can play an important role in boosting performance. 

Our Analytics API offers detailed information about the performance of individual devices and entire portfolios, delivering continuous insights into customer load and VPP participation potential. Leveraging this data, partners can flag underperforming devices and make operational adjustments to improve outcomes. This wealth of data empowers our partners to optimize portfolio participation over time. It also enables Leap to better understand realistic performance capabilities for different device types, so we can help our partners make informed decisions about their VPP programming. 

Strong VPP performance doesn’t happen in a vacuum: it’s the result of successfully orchestrating all the different technical, operational and market forces that can impact a device’s response to grid events. At Leap, we’ve built our software and assembled a team of market exports focused on reducing the complexities of these dynamics, making it easier for our partners to navigate performance challenges and achieve their goals.