Automation program aims to stabilize UK grid

A new smart-grid program being launched in the UK aims to help stabilize the power grid as more renewable energy sources come online.

Honeywell and power management company Stor Generation Ltd. are working with commercial and industrial users to temporarily trim their energy consumption when electricity demand threatens to overwhelm the grid.

Under the program, Stor Generation will pay companies to reduce their consumption using Honeywell’s automated demand response (ADR) technology. The technology automates short-term changes that reduce energy use by heating and cooling equipment, lighting and other building systems.

“The technology required to avoid a megawatt of consumption costs a fraction of that needed to pump out an additional megawatt,” said Jeremy Eaton, vice president of Honeywell Smart Grid Solutions. “From a cost-benefit standpoint, ADR is the most prudent option for reducing energy use and is the most clean, sustainable path to energy reliability.”

“Honeywell’s solution enables us to offer clients a new source of revenue, with little or no impact on a building’s operation or occupants,” said Azad Camyab, CEO of Stor Generation. “It also provides clients with near real-time visualization of energy consumption and gives them the ability to reduce costs by offering site load flexibility.”