Conservation voltage reduction (CVR) or Volt/VAR is an approach to demand response (DR) and energy efficiency (EE) that can provide major benefits without significant alterations to the power distribution system,  unlike other DR/EE approaches.  CVR is used to reduce demand and energy consumption during peak load when electricity prices are inflated and demand may exceed the available energy while maintaining customer voltage power quality according to tolerances mandated by the regulator to protect consumer and utility devices. According to ABB Ventyx peak demand can be reduced typically by 2 to 4 %.  The business benefits are a greater percentage of energy delivered to paying customers, reduced investment in peaking generation plants or in buying power from generators at peak market prices, and a reduction in the environmental impact of energy delivery.

According to a recent report from Navigant Research due to the excellent results of recent CVR pilots, the technology is a strong candidate to be one of the most popular EE and DR measures by 2020.

CVR, AMI and GIS

Even greater control and reduced risk can be achieved by Integrating CVR with advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and GIS.  CVR/AMI/GIS provides much greater precision in managing voltage reduction. At Distributech last year, I had a chance to talk to Dave Kauffman, Senior Product Manager for Applications and Interfaces at Tantalus.  One of the areas where Tantalus was applying GIS is to produce voltage maps to reduce the risk of dropping volatge levels below the regulator ordained threshold. When a utility is implementing Volt/VAR at a substation to reduce load, voltages reported by smart meters can be mapped geographically in real-time across the entire distribution network in the form of isovolt maps. This makes it possible to identify areas of low voltage and correct them in real time. 

According to Navigant most North American utilities who have deployed smart meters have not yet taken full advantage of this benefit of AMI. Navigant predicts that the very positive results from extensive CVR piloting and evaluations will result in regulators becoming enthusiastic about CVR. Navigant Research forecasts that cumulative CVR revenue will total nearly $1.9 billion between 2013 and 2020.