ENERGY MANAGEMENT
We have full site generator backup for the hospital and can synchronise with the grid to take ourselves offline. This means we have a seamless transition where the site does not experience unscheduled interruptions. The fact that joining the VPP allows us to also get paid to respond to those events, gives us a win-win scenario for our facility.
Achieving a new standard of emergency preparation By participating in a VPP, ECH is able to regularly test its backup power capabilities at times and in conditions when grid emergencies are most likely to occur, providing the truest test of emergency preparedness and resilience to grid disruptions. A benefit is that you run your
generators during a time where you are likely running a hefty load anyway. But, the key is, you are being asked to run your generator when the grid still has power. It is an excellent tool for testing and ironing out any assumptions that are made around that reliability at a time where you would not normally run your generator. The reality is that if the grid fails, it is
probably going to be on a hot summer day right when you do not want it to. VPP participation gives us the strength of conviction to know on a hot day where we are running a high load, that our generators can do the job. There have been events this year
where through this program we have found some issues we did not know existed, and the consequence has been far less than had it occurred at a time when we had lost power. So, ironing out those problems means that when you do not have power and you need to run your generator sets, you know the resilience is there, because you have got all those issues sorted.
Inside the front entrance of Echuca Regional Health in Victoria, Australia.
We are required to run our generators on load anyway, so if we are doing it already as part of VPP participation, then we can then defer our weekly test, because we have already proven that we have met the requirements of the Australian standards to test them on load. Another benefit to us is that we also get a payment.
Protecting sensitive equipment VPPs respond quickly to deviations in the grid’s frequency when a large power station or transmission network suddenly fail, to prevent cascading grid failures. ECH participates in this programme, which also helps the hospital to protect its sensitive equipment. When there is a frequency event, the VPP sends a signal which automatically switches the site straight to our generator. We have a lot of electronic equipment that its sensitive to things like voltage
spikes and frequency deviations. If the grid does not meet the parameters it is supposed to, then we trip off. This helps us because we do not have
groups of interruptions that destroy our sensitive electronic equipment, by short sharp interruptions to power. The hospital was already doing something similar, so it made sense to join this program and get paid for it.
A new revenue stream to further enhance reliability VPP participation became a hand-in-glove approach for the hospital, where they could be paid for something they were already doing, which could be reinvested into ensuring they have best-in-class redundancy systems. Our business model is based on
continual improvement, and the one element that we always run short of is cash. We generate revenue, and engineering departments are not generally revenue generators. It is nice to get revenue out of assets we already have in use. Participation allows us to meet all elements of continuous improvement, and generate cash, in a nicely rounded programme. The hospital is now looking to further
increase its demand response capacity by seeking approval from its network service provider to export the site’s excess generation capacity to the grid during VPP events. We are currently working on the grid
Ward at Echuca Regional Health. IFHE DIGEST 2021
export program which will be a real benefit for us. Exporting our generation capacity to the grid will create an income stream to support those assets. We are driven towards it because we have certain things we are mandated to do with running our generators – so if we are doing that anyway, and can be paid for it, we will certainly look at it as an opportunity.
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