Improvement of Grid Reliability & Efficiency
Ice Bear Fleets can contribute considerably to Grid Reliability & Efficiency in a number of ways:
- Better integration of renewables: more storage makes renewables easier to integrate generally, and Ice Bears also create a market for night-time wind power by shifting day-time AC loads to night
- Reduced load factor
- Transmission demand: Increased transmission demand at night and at lower load factors contributes to higher grid efficiency
Peaker Substitute
Ice Bear fleets make efficient, green, cost-effective substitutes for adding new peaking capacity in most service territories. Detailed cost modeling vs peakers is available upon request, and Ice Energy is happy to work with our customers on a bespoke basis to demonstrate cost effectiveness.
Ice Bear fleets enjoy a number of advantages over installing new peaking capacity:
- Efficiency: Ice Bear fleets move the peak load to off-peak hours where it can be addressed by existing capacity, increasing total system efficiency.
- Fixed Cost: Ice Energy contracts on a fixed-price basis with no overage charges. Installation cost risk is 100% born by Ice Energy, which we can do because of the distributed nature of Ice Bear deployments
- RoI: Ice Bear fleets can be installed on a timeline to meet utility needs, not only all at once. An efficient timeline reduces unused capacity and increased RoI to the utility.
- Green (and Fast): No Emissions permits, environmental studies, or community opposition
Substitute for T&D Upgrades
Ice Bear fleets may in many cases be effective, targeted, scalable substitutes for T&D Upgrades, primarily re-conductoring feeders. In our experience, ideal feeder targets are those which are near capacity and experiencing slow but steady load growth.
Ice Bear fleets have the following advantages over traditional T&D upgrade solutions:
- Highly targeted: Ice Bear fleets can be targeted at those customers contributing most to peak demand
- Scalable and dynamic: A customized installation plan can be developed to meet the load needs of specific feeders over time, maximizing the efficiency of the infrastructure spend
- Community support: Customers get something they love – an Ice Bear on the roof, and aren’t inconvenienced by disruptive construction projects