MicroNOC
Delivering Clean On- Demand Energy Resources

Traditionally, the cost of electricity is determined by the real-time supply from power plants and demand from consumers. Highly populated areas such as California experience a grid imbalance called the duck curve—it represents the difference in electricity demand and the amount of energy available. During the day, there is an oversupply of electricity due to baseload resources such as geothermal, nuclear, and hydroelectric energy, alongside wind and solar. However, energy resources such as solar, which contribute a significant portion to electricity generation are non-dispatchable, meaning they cannot be turned on and off at will. Therefore, in the evening, from 4 to 9 p.m., when high energy demand occurs, utilities rely on dispatchable resources such as gas and fossil fuels to mitigate the undersupply of power. The peaker plants that burn dispatchable resources produce dirty energy, which increases electricity rates and emissions of toxic gasses. To replace this dirty energy, there is a dire need for clean energy resources during evening hours.

Addressing the issue of grid imbalance with its innovative Clean Virtual Power Station (CVP) solution is MicroNOC. The company’s solution, CVP, is an on-demand energy resource that helps reduce energy waste and the use of dirty energy on the electric grid. CVP consists of a battery and energy management system— called aggregated energy resource solution (AERS)—which is interfaced with the grids telemetry. “What differentiates MicroNOC’s solution from other storage systems is that commercial and industrial buildings equipped with CVP are transformed into virtual power stations that precisely balance electricity consumption when energy waste and dirty energy use is highest—peak demand times,” explains JK Kim, CEO of MicroNOC. These CVP equipped virtual power stations can also help mitigate electricity grid congestion times and enable energy suppliers to transition into a cleaner energy grid with less waste.

MicroNOC’s Clean Virtual Power Station (CVP) helps reduce energy waste and the use of dirty energy on the electric grid

Moreover, CVP is in accordance with the FERC Order 841, which states that barriers to distributed and behind-the-meter energy storage participating in wholesale electricity markets are to be removed.

More importantly, MicroNOC’s innovative solution leverages existing infrastructure, which eliminates the need for investment into upgrading/ replacing existing peaker plants, transmission and distribution lines. This ensures a win-win situation as utilities do not have to pay the high operating costs of peaker plants to meet demand during peak hours and customers save on electricity bills. Customers also don’t need to buy any equipment and instead enter into a service agreement with MicroNOC (minimum of 5 years) for a guaranteed 25 percent or more savings on their utility bills. CVP enables the use of fossil fuels sparingly and thus helps reduce the carbon footprint. For instance, in California, every year, approximately 23 million tons of carbon dioxide is produced to mitigate 18 gigawatts of congested demand. MicroNOC’s CVP can offset 1300 metric tons of carbon dioxide per one megawatt.

On top of maximizing savings on utility bills for customers, CVP allows clients to supply the excess stored energy back to the grid. In 2021, MicroNOC intends to roll out a program that will allow clients to contribute a percentage of the returns gained from supplying the stored energy to the grid back to the community as part of corporate social responsibility. And to promote positive dialogue between corporations and the community, MicroNOC is building a software platform so that a beneficiary and contributor can communicate about the positive experience related to the donation. In addition to helping secure a greener future, MicroNOC also eliminates the huge costs related to decreasing carbon emissions that would have been otherwise indebted to future generations. Moving forward, MicroNOC plans to enhance its energy management system and software platform to support 1.5-gigawatt projects by 2025. Mr Kim believes that CVP is an innovative solution with the potential to immensely benefit society and optimize the energy grid for both present and future generations to come.