System and method for energy management

摘要

Embodiments of the present invention assist customers in managing the four types of energy assets, that is, generation, storage, usage, and controllable load assets. Embodiments of the present invention for the first time develop and predict a customer baseline (“CBL”) usage of electricity, using a predictive model based on simulation of energy assets, based on business as usual (“BAU”) of the customer's facility. The customer is provided with options for operating schedules based on algorithms, which allow the customer to maximize the economic return on its generation assets, its storage assets, and its load control assets. Embodiments of the invention enable the grid to verify that the customer has taken action to control load in response to price. This embodiment of the invention calculates the amount of energy that the customer would have consumed, absent any reduction of use made in response to price. Specifically, the embodiment models the usage of all the customer's electricity consuming devices, based on the customer's usual conditions. This model of the expected consumption can then be compared to actual actions taken by the customer, and the resulting consumption levels, to verify that the customer has reduced consumption and is entitled to payment for the energy that was not consumed.

主权项

1. A method for optimizing the use of electric energy by a facility comprising a plurality of energy assets, the method comprising:
modeling, using a at least one processor, the usage of electric energy by the facility, by creating a simulation model of the facility;
wherein the dynamic simulation model of the facility comprises a computation of thermodynamics properties of the facility, andwherein the dynamic simulation model is adaptive to at least one physical change in the facility based on a parametric estimation; calculating, using the at least one processor, a customer baseline (“CBL”) based on the dynamic simulation model, wherein the CBL provides an estimate of energy consumption of the facility as a function of time; and determining, using the at least one processor, a plan for controlling the operation of at least one of the plurality of energy assets: (i) to reduce an electricity provider's overall charge to the facility for electric energy, and/or (ii) to provide a revenue source to the facility, the determining being done on the basis of the dynamic simulation model, the CBL, and variations in the price of electric energy in the wholesale market during a defined time period.