Globally and within the United States, the cost of energy associated with crop irrigation is increasing as growers convert to higher pressure systems and pump more groundwater from greater depths as water tables continue to drop . Additionally, parts of the electric grid are under a significant or increasing amounts of strain due to elevated demand and ambitious Renewable Portfolio Standard targets . Consequences of increased reliance on groundwater pumping extends beyond the energy implications and can results in irreparable environmental damages. Those consequences include aquifer contamination by seawater intrusion or depletion beyond the point of recharge, land subsidence, infrastructure damage, and harm to groundwater dependent ecosystems . Demand management strategies such as Demand Response can help farmers better manage electricity consumption and unlock new revenue streams while providing benefits to the electricity grid and the environment . Traditionally DR has been a strategy primarily used to shift and/or lower electrical loads during peak hours . In recent years, due to evolving grid needs, the value of DR has expanded beyond load shifting to include various services as dictated by the grid needs . The goal of this paper is to establish a clear understanding of current and future needs of the electricity grid, available electricity market mechanisms, and electricity consuming/generating equipment on farms. This paper aims to achieve that clear understanding by putting forward a standardized framework similar to the illustration shown in Figure 1, which allows farm equipment to be mapped to respective grid needs through available market mechanisms. This mapping will allow for the widespread adoption of DR within the agricultural industry by removing a significant knowledge gap that exists between the farm, utilities, and the grid. Such analysis can also identify market mechanism that are required for addressing current and future grid needs and are not captured through existing ones. While there are promising technologies under development aimed at increasing the reliability of agricultural DR participation,arandano azul cultivo little attention has been given to educating the farmer, utility/DR aggregator, and grid operator about the electricity grid, electricity consuming/generating equipment on farms, available electricity market mechanisms, and how all those connect and interact with each other.
As discussed by Aghajanzadeh, et. al. , agricultural loads, with their potential flexibility, can help reduce their energy cost, and improve grid stability as energy markets move into a future of increasingly distributed and renewable electricity generation. However, agriculture’s operational constraints, conventional irrigation system design and management standards, and low penetration of in field automation limit farms from taking advantage of more flexible energy and water use strategies that could benefit the grower, utility, and the grid. Several studies have highlighted the technological and operational hurdles for widespread adoption of DR in the agricultural sector. Olsen, et. al. provide foundational information on the status of agricultural DR in California . In this work Olsen et. al. identified several factors as barriers for farmers to participate in existing DR programs. Those barriers include insufficient irrigation capacity, lack of communications, controls, and financial incentives. Other factors hindering DR adoption include inflexibility of water delivery, application methods, and labor. According to Pacific Institute and Ringler et. al., the agricultural industry has the opportunity to improve its bottom line by tapping into new revenue streams such as DR incentives or implementing energy and water efficiency practices that reduce farm operation costs . However, agricultural demand management programs have proven to be unsuccessful in facilitating the needs of the farm and helping the utilities manage their demand and reduce cost . Many DR programs offered by electric utilities are developed with no regard to on farm operational constraints. Many customers may not even be aware of available DR enabling technologies or operational measures . Marks et al., also point out that the complex process of DR program enrollment, enablement, and participation has led to unsuccessful adoption of existing demand management programs within the agricultural industry .The electricity grid has evolved and integration of intermittent renewable sources such as wind and solar has made balancing the grid more complex. Figure 2 shows the generation mix of California’s grid under a 50% RPS scenario which is expected to be achieved by the year 2030 . Intra-hour variability and short-duration ramps are one of the immediate challenges faced by a 50% renewable California grid. In a 50% RPS scenario, thermal power plants need to ramp down as solar resources come online in the early hours of the day . However, they cannot drop to zero since a minimum capacity need to remain spinning for contingency as well as the evening ramp up, and in the absence of cheap energy storage, excess solar generation needs to be curtailed in order to maintain grid stability . As the solar resources stop generating electricity in the evening hours , thermal power plants need to ramp up to make up for the lost solar generation. The ramp up to meet the evening peak will be more pronounced due to lower than usual net demand due to high solar penetration .
Market mechanisms are platforms that connect electricity end users, generators, and grid operators. These mechanisms are needed to ensure that the needs of the electric grid are satisfied while entities providing services to the grid are fairly compensated. While more intermittent renewable sources are integrated into the grid as dictated by the RPS targets, grid operation becomes more complex thus giving rise to more complicated and nascent market mechanisms. While new systems such as Automated Demand Response 3 are seen crucial in addressing the challenges faced by the future grid, today’s wholesale DR systems seem experimental, and retail DR systems typically work on slow time scales as open loop systems to address peak load reduction . In order to address the variable generation mix and the dynamic demand of electricity, new market mechanisms are introduced and existing mechanism are constantly modified. The constant evolution of market mechanisms has led to a lack of understanding and a knowledge gap in how the electricity markets operate and the ways through which end users can participate in them. Moreover, the DR needs and availabilities of different actors may evolve over time needing constant modification of existing market mechanism which can further widen this knowledge gap. Another layer of complexity is the hardware requirements and communication protocols used for each market mechanism and by various service providers . This will leave many end users unaware of technological or operational measures available to them . Although this paper does not discuss communication protocols, telemetry, and settlement metering requirements, it lays the groundwork for further exploring those requirements by providing conceptual DR participation pathways. All DR service types fall into two main categories. Demand Side or load modifying resources, which reshape or reduce the net load curve; and Supply Side or supply resources, which are integrated into the Independent System Operator energy markets. Figure 8 summarizes these two categories and requirements for participating in each category.Energy efficiency and load management programs offered through the utilities in many US states are collectively called demand side resources. Such retail DR systems typically work on slow time scales as open loop systems to address peak load reduction . Currently agricultural loads can only participate in demand side DR by enrolling in a TOU, DR,macetas 25 litros or ADR program offered by their local utility.
Any resource that transacts with the electricity grid by providing a bid, price, and duration with short or no notification is treated as a generator and required to adhere to the same requirements . Transaction for such resources happen in wholesale ancillary services markets, operated by the ISO. This type of advanced DR will become more valuable over time, as the ISOs across the US integrate additional renewable energy sources and curtailment becomes more significant during the midday hours . There are currently no mechanisms in place that allows agricultural loads to directly provide supply side DR. Agricultural operations consume a variety of energy types for different purposes: directly as gasoline, diesel, natural gas, propane, or electricity , and indirectly as fertilizer or pesticide . Given that the focus of this paper is providing DR services to the grid, only direct electricity consumption is discussed. The number of farms producing electricity on site through renewable sources doubled between 2007 and 2012 . Farms that produce their own electricity are linked to energy markets on both the supply side and the demand side. This exposes farms to volatility in energy prices as energy consumers and uncertainty of revenue from the production of electricity generated on site and sold back to the grid . For example, electricity prices affect the costs of crop irrigation due to water pumping but also affect the value of renewable power generated on farm . While similar analysis can be carried out for other energy types consumed or generated on a farm, the focus of this paper is only on direct electricity consumption or generation on a farm specifically for the purposes of crop irrigation. Agriculture is a major user of ground and surface water in the US, accounting for approximately 80% of the nation’s consumptive water use. In many Western drought prone states that number increases to 90% . In Western states, irrigation provides most of the crop water requirements, while in eastern areas irrigation is largely supplemental . Unlike turf irrigation, which is mostly done at night, irrigating farms require a constant supply of water to meet crop requirements . Therefore, a large amount of agricultural pumping occurs during period of high evapotranspiration4 including summer afternoons which are prone to having the highest levels of ET. Irrigation pumps are primarily powered by electricity. According to 2013 Farm and Ranch Irrigation Survey, 85% of irrigation pumps are electric and only 13% of pumps are powered by diesel . Since most pumps on farms use electricity to convey water, the large water pumping demand for agriculture can be translated to large electricity consumption. About 70% of the electricity consumed on a farm is due to water pumping .
Electricity is consumed on a farm to either pump water out of the ground, divert surface water, or pressurize water for irrigation applications. While pumps use the majority of the electricity on the farm, there are other equipment and generation sources that complicate the analysis of energy consumption on a farm. Those equipment include solar panels, variable frequency drives on pumps, and water storage. Presence of those components can affect the timing and manner of electricity consumption and its controllability on a farm. To take full advantage of available loads on farms, their DR potential, level of automation, response time , and required notification time should be characterized. Figure 10 illustrates a generic representation of available assets on a farm as well as the electricity and water flows. Figure 10 is representative of a generic farm and does not include all possible equipment found a farm . This paper focuses on water related energy consumers on a farm; therefore, all the equipment listed in Figure 10 and the rest of this analysis include equipment that are involved in water conveyance, pressurization, and storage. In the following sub sections, each relevant piece of farm equipment will be analyzed in detail, including its manner and timing of energy use, level of automation, and ways through which they can impact electricity consumption on a farm. A summary of farm equipment characteristics discussed in this section is presented in Table 2. In order to integrate agricultural loads into the grid their level of automation, response time, and demand flexibility need to be characterized. Three levels of automation is assigned to each farm end use . Surface water pumps divert water from surface water sources and distribute the water throughout the farm for irrigation purposes.On farm surface water comes from ponds, lakes, or streams and rivers, while off farm water sources are generally supplied to the farm through local irrigation districts; mutual, private, cooperative, or neighborhood water delivery companies; or from local or municipal water systems . Surface pumps are low static head systems with most of the energy expended to overcome the dynamic head. As of 2008, 52% of irrigation water needs were satisfied through surface water sources, but that number has been decreasing in recent years with groundwater withdrawals increasing to make up for the surface water shortage.