EnerNOC Awarded 50 Megawatt Demand Response Contract in Australia

EnerNOC, Inc., an Enel Group Company, announced today that it has been awarded a three-year demand response contract with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the NSW Government.

Under the terms of the contract, EnerNOC will develop and operate a 50 MW demand response (DR) resource to support system reliability in the National Electricity Market (NEM). The dispatchable DR resource will utilise aggregated load curtailment from commercial and industrial energy users across New South Wales and Victoria to respond within 10 minutes when dispatched by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). This new DR resource will be available for dispatch December 2017, thus ensuring it will enhance system reliability during the peak summer months.

"Demand response is one of the quickest and most cost-effective tools the NEM can employ to help avoid the reliability challenges experienced last summer," said Jeff Renaud, Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Pacific. "The virtual power plant we're building with the support of ARENA will provide grid services in a quick and reliable way with the benefit of low emissions."

In addition to supporting system reliability during times of peak demand, EnerNOC's DR resource will further support system security in the NEM by offering frequency control ancillary services (FCAS), providing a sub 1-second fast frequency response to help maintain system stability following unexpected contingency events.

EnerNOC's resource will demonstrate that, when equipped with the right technology, commercial and industrial energy users can create new revenue streams while providing multiple benefits to the grid.

"As we work to integrate more variable renewable energy generation sources on the supply side in the NEM, it's going to be critical to enable corresponding flexibility on the demand side," said Mr. Renaud. "This project is a key enabling step toward realising that future."