Consumers Energy, Michigan's largest energy provider, and Sunverge, provider of a distributed energy resource (DER) control and aggregation platform, today announced their collaboration to leverage Sunverge's real-time control, aggregation and orchestration platform with Sunverge Energy Storage technology for a Consumers Energy residential battery storage pilot.

"We are conducting this pilot to test and measure how aggregated battery storage may have the potential to offer benefits to Michigan's electric grid and our customers," said Ryan Kiley, executive director of product development for Consumers Energy. "The Sunverge platform's ability to co-optimize grid services is key to our decision to work with them. In this pilot, we are testing to understand the different values that batteries could provide to the overall grid, such as potential investment deferral, resiliency and reliability, while also providing backup of critical loads for pilot participants."

Sunverge worked with Consumers Energy to evaluate the energy provider's distribution circuits and identify grid locations suitable to test the potential benefits and value from behind the meter battery storage. Consumers Energy used this analysis to select a circuit in Michigan's Grand Rapids area to conduct the pilot.

Consumers Energy is working to modernize Michigan's electric grid and develop clean energy across the state. In January, the company dedicated its first combined rooftop solar array and battery storage system in the Circuit West energy district of Grand Rapids. Last September, the company began operation of the Parkview Battery Project, a 1 MW battery located at Western Michigan University.

Source: Sunverge