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Significant variability in time of use electricity rates and high electricity demand charges are incentivizing load flexibility and dispatchable generation from water and wastewater infrastructure assets. We propose a new set of metrics for valuing water infrastructure load flexibility that enables direct comparison with other distributed energy storage technologies (e.g., batteries). Applying these metrics allows grid planners to assess the value of energy flexibility to the grid relative to existing energy storage solutions and water infrastructure managers to assess the financial benefits of energy flexibility for their facility operation. We apply these metrics to assess the benefits of load flexibility and dispatchable biomethane production with onsite electricity generation at geographically diverse water and wastewater treatment facilities. We then demonstrate application of this framework to the design and operation of an energy management system at Silicon Valley Clean Water wastewater treatment plant. The framework reveals strengths and limitations of water system flexibility relative to other grid scale energy storage solutions, high value opportunities for flexible load operation of water assets, and the critical role of electricity tariff structures and energy service markets in determining water sector participation in load flexibility. Ultimately, this unified framework for valuing water asset flexibility enables both electricity and water asset managers to prioritize investments based on levelized cost comparisons across their respective portfolios.
Professor Meagan Mauter is an Associate Professor at Stanford University and Senior Fellow in the Precourt Energy Institute and Woods Institute for the Environment. She directs the Water & Energy Efficiency for the Environment Lab (WE3Lab) with the mission of providing sustainable water supply in a carbon-constrained world. Ongoing research efforts include: 1) developing desalination technologies to support a circular water economy, 2) coordinating operation of decarbonized water and energy systems, and 3) supporting the design and enforcement of water-energy policies.
Professor Mauter also serves as the research director for the National Alliance for Water Innovation, a $110-million DOE Hub addressing U.S. water security issues. The Hub targets early-stage research and development of energy-efficient and cost-competitive technologies for distributed desalination of non-traditional source waters.
Professor Mauter holds bachelors degrees in Civil & Environmental Engineering and History from Rice University and a PhD in Chemical & Environmental Engineering from Yale University. Prior to joining the faculty at Stanford, she served as an Energy Technology Innovation Policy Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Visiting Scholar at the Mossavar Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and Associate Professor at Carnegie Mellon University.