Locally developed and supported, FlexPoint is Transpower’s Distributed Energy Resources (DER) Management System that coordinates distributed energy resources and manages the grid effectively together with DER providers.
It is a software platform that allows DER providers to enrol and offer their distributed energy storage, distributed energy generation or demand response into the platform and for the operators to call on these resources when needed.
FlexPoint is an open access platform built around application programming interfaces (APIs) and is certified by the OpenADR Alliance for the OpenADR 2.0 standard (IEC 62746-10-1 ED1).
FlexPoint:
- Registers resources and organisations offering Distributed Energy Resources
- Enables better visibility of assets to see what is operational and if there are any issues
- Manages and coordinates demand response events
- Verifies which Distributed Energy Resources to call upon to meet needs
- Tracks and settles payments
- Enables seamless customer relationships, communications and contract management.
An alternative to transmission investment
Distributed Energy Resources when combined with Flexibility Management Systems make an excellent alternative to transmission investment.
In our Electrification Roadmap, we estimate that for every GW of peak demand saved, around $1.5bn in generation, transmission and distribution investment can be avoided.
To get an idea of the potential of such an approach, we modelled the uptake of EVs to 2035 and the impact of connecting them to smart chargers that can automatically charge cars outside of peak time, such as overnight. By using Flexibility Management Systems and automated smart chargers and batteries, peak demand can be reduced by around 2 GW. That’s more than twice the output of Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest hydro power station at Lake Manapouri.
The future
As we enter a new Regulatory Control Period (RCP4), Transpower is taking the DER concept further with Real Time Pricing (RTP) - putting in place the means for Distributed Energy Resources to participate in the wholesale electricity market and be dispatched in real time, just as generation is. The Electricity Authority's target date for the introduction of RTP is October 2022.
Transpower is supporting the development of local and regional Distributed Energy Resources programmes as a non-wire alternative to transmission as regional major capital project grid investments are considered. This means working with local lines companies (Electricity Distribution Businesses, EDBs) in areas where system capacity is close to being reached to investigate the potential of Distributed Energy Resources to delay or avoid more expensive infrastructure investment in poles and wires.
Throughout the sector, EDBs, generators, retailers and new market entrants are working to build new business models to make the most of new Distributed Energy Resource technologies.