If you’re using automation on your operation and generating your own energy, your operation could be a virtual power plant. That’s potential you can tap into that you and your utility might value.
On Jan. 20, Yield Energy, formerly Polaris Energy Services, announced the launch of Yield Edge DERMS, a distributed energy resource management system. The system organizes operation elements like irrigation pumps, cold storage, chargers for electric vehicles and other equipment, batteries, solar systems and other on-site energy generation. It also allows for responsive energy flexibility between the operation and the energy grid when the operation produces more than it needs.
“Yield acts as the energy orchestration layer on-farm, connecting end customers to utility incentive programs like demand response or dynamic rates,” Tim Nuss, head of business development at Yield Energy, tells The Packer. “There is nuance to each program, but we are either helping growers earn revenue or save money by participating.”
According to the company’s announcement, while it was validating the platform in California, enrolled growers earned an average of $20,000 to $30,000 annually in demand response programs, as well as saving roughly 15% to 20% on their energy bills in Hourly Flex Pricing, part of PG&E’s dynamic rates program.
“Agriculture has always had the potential to be one of the grid’s most powerful partners — it just needed the right tools,” Tyler Nuss, CEO of Yield Energy, says in the group’s announcement.
“We’ve proven that on-farm operations can deliver reliable, grid-ready flexibility at scale,” he adds. “Yield connects that flexibility to the operational demands of today’s grid, creating new revenue for growers while delivering capacity that’s faster, cleaner and far more affordable than new infrastructure.”
Both Tim Nuss and Tyler Nuss describe Yield Edge DERMS as specially tailored for the needs of agriculture.
“Most DERMS are focused on residential, and most demand response aggregators focus on commercial and industrial,” Tim Nuss says. He offers Energy Hub as an example of a residential-focused DERMS and Voltus as a commercial-focused response aggregator.
“Yield was founded to solely focus on the ag market as the participation requirements are so unique,” he adds.
Irrigation systems are one of those unique elements, something the company says it primarily supports. Yield Energy is currently working with seven different irrigation ag tech companies — WiseConn, Farmblox, Lumo, Ranch Systems, Swan Systems, Netafim and Verdi — making the DERMS a “bring your own device” situation that is device agnostic.
“The unique thing for growers is that the benefits Yield offers are zero out of pocket for them,” Tim Nuss tells The Packer. “We turn assets they already own (i.e., irrigation automation like Wiseconn) into new revenue streams or savings opportunities. If a grower has automation and we are integrated with that company, it’s really plug and play.”
