Energy Toolbase, Ventura Energy and Leap are deploying a portfolio of grid-interactive storage projects to support the California grid.

The 3.7MW-hour portfolio will participate in the wholesale energy markets and should deliver grid flexibility.

Florida-based Energy Toolbase is a software provider of tools for project modelling, energy storage controls and asset monitoring for solar and storage projects. It is deploying its Acumen EMS controls software on standalone energy storage projects being developed and deployed by Ventura Energy, a Californian owner and developer of renewable energy and energy storage projects.

The five-site portfolio of standalone energy storage projects, deployed at critical water facilities, will participate in the wholesale energy markets and provide critical support to California’s grid through a programme facilitated by Leap, a provider of energy market access for distributed energy resources.

With California’s goal of decarbonising its electricity sector by 2045, the state has a massive opportunity to leverage its fleet of behind-the-meter batteries to support grid reliability and drive renewable growth. As part of this effort, the Ventura Energy portfolio in southern California will leverage Acumen EMS and Leap’s platform to bid its price-responsive load into Caiso, delivering zero-carbon energy when dispatched and providing resource adequacy to the utility.

The portfolio is made up of five sites, totalling 3.7MWh using Tesla energy storage systems. Ventura’s project-financing model uses projected grid services revenues to deliver more cost-effective backup power to its customers.

“We’re excited to deploy our first portfolio of grid-interactive projects working with Ventura and Leap,” said Chris Sefel, manager of enterprise sales with Energy Toolbase, “We intend to replicate this model and enable many more ETB-controlled energy storage systems to participate in the wholesale energy markets.”

The projects will enrol and make nominations into California’s Dram demand response auction mechanism programme, which is a pay-as-bid auction programme that aims to bolster grid stability by compensating demand-side resources, including energy storage systems, to curtail energy when the grid is strained. The partnership between Energy Toolbase, Ventura Energy and Leap should help all parties increase revenue and support for the grid through a performance-based revenue-share model for the portfolio.

“We are excited to get these projects energised, prove out this model, and then repeat this performance-based revenue share structure on future projects,” said Clara Nagy McBane, owner of Ventura Energy.

Jason Michaels, chief commercial officer with California-based Leap, added: “California has a large and growing base of distributed energy resources that can deliver critical flexibility to the grid and help avoid blackouts. As a leading platform for modelling and operating commercial energy storage projects, Energy Toolbase is a natural partner for us to enable asset owners like Ventura to capture full value from their projects. We’re excited to partner with Energy Toolbase and Ventura to provide resiliency and zero-carbon energy to the California grid.”

Energy Toolbase recently launched its special programmes feature on the ETB Monitor platform, which enables Acumen EMS-controlled energy storage systems to function as virtual power plants and participate in demand response or grid services programmes. This feature allows users to view, manage and schedule participation in energy market programmes, such as Dram in California. Asset owners can extract value from standalone storage and solar-plus-storage projects by co-optimising value capture with behind-the-meter utility bill savings control strategies.

Energy Toolbase is a software platform that provides a cohesive suite of project estimating, storage control and asset monitoring products that enable solar and storage developers to deploy projects more efficiently. Its SaaS products are used by over 1000 distributed energy organisations worldwide. The company is backed by its parent company, Pason Systems, a provider of data management systems and controls automation software for the energy industry.

Ventura Energy has 15 years of experience developing, engineering and deploying more than 1GW DC of solar and energy storage projects. Headquartered in San Francisco, with an office in Ventura, California, Ventura Energy offers infrastructure, industrial and business users an array of renewable and resilient development, consulting, and financial and asset management services.

Leap is a platform for generating value from grid-connected resources and devices through integration with energy markets. It seamlessly connects technology partners to high-value revenue streams and provides a simplified, automated access point for market participation with batteries, electric vehicle charging, smart thermostats, HVAC, industrial facilities, and other flexible assets. By making it easy for new distributed resources to participate in energy markets, Leap lays the groundwork for virtual power plants. Leap empowers its partners to provide resilient, zero-carbon capacity to the grid while strengthening engagement with its customers through value streams.