Open Country’s electrode boiler adds grid stability with 13MW of reserve capacity.

Simply Energy has announced that Open Country, New Zealand’s second-largest milk processor, is now offering up to 13MW of interruptible load to the reserves market from its electrode boiler located at Awarua.

It is the first electric-powered boiler to participate in Simply’s demand flexibility programme, which includes 75 sites, collectively contributing up to 48MW of interruptible load to the grid.

The boiler was dispatched for the first time on 18 May into the ‘Fast Instantaneous Reserves’ and ‘Sustained Instantaneous Reserves’ markets between 4.30 pm and 10.30 pm.

James Carberry, Simply’s Head of Sustainable Opportunities, said having an electric-powered boiler responding to events is a significant milestone for its demand flexibility programme and an opportunity to quickly grow New Zealand’s electricity reserves as more process heat is electrified.

“Open Country’s contribution highlights the considerable potential of electric boilers to provide a flexible and responsive solution for managing unexpected disruptions in electricity supply and bolstering grid stability,” he said.

“Open Country has also demonstrated that an electrode boiler can safely drop electrical load within a second and be off for up to half an hour with minimal disruption.”

He hopes Open Country’s example will encourage more process heat users to consider using their electric boilers to support the grid.

Open Country’s decision to support grid stability comes a year after installing Simply’s demand flexibility technology to operate its Awarua electrode and coal boilers in the most carbon-efficient way. Carberry says this approach involves using a dual-fuel method to automatically operate the electrode boiler in response to periods of low electricity pricing when the grid is typically greener.

“In the first 10 months of using this approach, Open Country displaced 5,900 tonnes of coal and reduced emissions by 10,600 tCO2e – the equivalent of taking around 4,400 petrol cars off the road annually.”

He also highlights that Open Country’s dual-fuel set-up is helpful when providing reserves. “If its coal boilers are not operating at maximum capacity, they can increase output to compensate for any lost electrode boiler output during short reserves events.”

Mark de Lautour, Open Country’s Chief Executive Officer, said he’s pleased to take the next step by enabling the boiler to provide a vital safety net for New Zealand’s electricity grid with minimal impact on operations.

“It underscores our commitment to play a leading role in decarbonising process heat and contributing to a more resilient, affordable and sustainable electricity system.”

Carberry points out that “Although electric boilers can greatly bolster New Zealand’s electricity reserves, any business with equipment capable of collectively offering approximately 200kW+ of average load, which can shut off in less than a second, can potentially take part.” For businesses curious about how often they might need to respond to an event, Carberry explains, “There have been 6 events where reserves have been needed over the past five years, so roughly one a year”.

Carberry says the greater a site’s flexibility, the more value it can generate, and expects this trend to grow as peak electricity demand rises and New Zealand integrates more intermittent renewables into the grid.

“Businesses can save cost and carbon by shifting their electricity use to when the grid is greener, and electricity typically costs less. They can also earn additional revenue by being on standby and dropping loads when the grid needs a helping hand.”

Carberry encourages any businesses capable of operating equipment flexibly and those investigating electrification projects to explore the benefits of flexibility.