Zen Ecosystems Demand Response
- $1.87m Funded by ARENA
- $5.48m Total project cost
Summary
The Zen Ecosystems Demand Response project will see Zen Ecosystems deploy its “smart” connected thermostats across Victoria and South Australia, to aggregate and control heating and cooling within commercial and residential buildings. The project will aim to deliver 5 MW of demand response reserve from 1 December 2017, increasing to 15 MW of demand response reserve in year 3.
How the project works
The Zen Ecosystems Demand Response project will deliver its reserve through direct load control, where air conditioning, heating and ventilation can be automated by ZenHQ using a network of connected thermostats across Victoria and South Australia in the commercial and residential customer segments. Residential customers are also able to participate in a behavioural demand response program to voluntarily contribute to managing their energy usage during peak demand.
Learn more
Media Release: AEMO and ARENA Demand Response Trial to Provide 200 Megawatts of Emergency Reserves for Extreme Peaks
ARENA and AEMO announced 10 pilot projects have been awarded funding under the demand response initiative to manage electricity supply during extreme peaks.
Report – ARENA/AEMO DR Trial Project Performance Report Summer 2019
This report outlines the key learnings that Zen will take away for future DR programme participation, as well as inform the industry of opportunities for future programme and policy design.
Report: Planet Innovation RERT Demand Response Program Performance Summary Summer 2017/18
This report documents the performance, learnings and findings of the Planet Innovation demand response program, run by Zen Ecosystems.
Report: ARENA/AEMO DR Trial Project Performance Report Summer 2017 and Winter 2018
This report details the latest details from the Period 2 winter tests for their behavioural DR program, as well as the commercial Frigbot and HVAC performance.
Report: ARENA/AEMO DR Trial Project Performance Report
Zen Ecosystems (ZE) ran multiple DR events in summer 2018, going a long way to meeting the DR Pilot Program objectives.
Area of innovation
The automated, “smart” and connected Zen Thermostat is an innovative approach to reducing peak loads on an energy network. Zen, an Australian company, trialled this approach successfully in the United States, where it was able to show energy savings of between 10-30%.
Benefit
The program will help to establish whether demand response can assist in maintaining a stable electricity grid in Victoria and South Australia.
Read more
ARENAWIRE Blogs
EDITORIAL: The Distributed Energy Revolution
If millions of Australian households and businesses continue to invest in their own solar and battery systems, this vast array of small scale energy assets known as Distributed Energy Resources (DER) could create enormous disruption to the electricity system.
ACCC calls for “reset” of electricity market, backs demand response
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released its final report on electricity prices on Wednesday, calling for reforms to overhaul what it dubbed a “broken” electricity market.
The demand response army of customers that's 1.7 million strong...
When you join forces with a big operator and work together on a really big idea, the results you tend to get are, well…
Zen and the art of demand response (or how to stay cool about staying cool this summer)
It’s a small black or white box, elegantly yet simply designed, and it could be in your home soon, making a difference not just to your own electricity bill but helping to secure the system as a whole.
