Path to Go-Live: Key Steps for Storage Assets in CAISO

Bringing a storage asset online in CAISO is a major milestone — but it’s not a simple plug-and-play process. The market requires careful preparation, multiple systems integrations, and a strong operating strategy before an asset can deliver on its revenue potential.

While every project has unique complexities, there are a few key steps critical to a successful (and timely) launch.  

Getting your energy storage system connected to CAISO, and the multitude of other entities required to operate, is a foundational first step. In fact, most batteries need to integrate with four – and sometimes five – different systems to run day-to-day operations. 

• Scheduling Coordinator (SC): Intermediary between electricity generators and CAISO; submits bids on behalf of generators and handles financial settlements.
• CAISO: There are three unique integrations that enable storage assets to interact with the market.
  • Automated Dispatch System (ADS): Ensures you can receive instructions from CAISO.
  • Outage Management System (OMS): Allows you to file outage tickets with CAISO – a process that is more manual than in other ISOs.
  • New Resource Implementation: Facilitate the process for getting approved for interconnection and market access.
•  Energy Management System (EMS): Tracking and communicating the physical state of the battery such as telemetry, and executing on the commands sent by the optimizer.
• Optimizer: The brains behind your bidding and dispatch strategy, and the connective tissue that transforms plans into actions.
• Load Serving Entity (LSE): Often, though not always, assets will contractually need to follow specific instructions from an LSE.

For operations to run smoothly, data must flow seamlessly — and quickly — between all of these parties. Latency or misalignment across systems can mean missed revenue or penalties.

Selecting the right partners is critical. This process is neither simple, nor one-and-done. You want partners that are collaborative, responsive, and accountable – prioritize those you believe will go the extra mile for your team.

CAISO has a number of nuanced rules and market design quirks that make day-to-day operations complex. An optimization platform that has these nitty-gritty details programmed in is the best way to ensure compliant operations, meet all contractual requirements, and maximize project revenue.

Make sure your optimizer is ready for the specific challenges of the market. You may ask questions like:

• How quickly can your platform update price forecast, intake telemetry data, read dispatch instructions, then formulate and submit a new operating plan?
• How are you ensuring compliance with Resource Adequacy (RA) bidding obligations and other bilateral contract requirements?  
• Each AS product comes with its own rules, duration requirements, and attenuation factors — is the optimizer tuned for those nuances?
• CAISO has strict SOC requirements when participating in AS markets. Can your optimizer manage SOC so proactively? If not, are you willing to risk potentially high priced charge actions issued by CAISO? 
• Assets must lock in bids 75 minutes before delivery. Can your optimizer run real-time strategies effectively within that constraint and the resulting state-of-charge uncertainty?
• How frequently do you deploy new features or model updates? CAISO implements regulatory changes relatively frequently and sometimes with little advance notice. Platforms that are not on top of them can quickly fall behind. 
• Are you able to incorporate my asset’s charge constraints that impact when and how much we can charge? This has downstream impacts on optimal Day-Ahead and Real-Time bidding to ensure feasibility and optimal performance of your asset.

In CAISO, operators are responsible for physically dispatching their assets. This means that when you receive instructions (ex. discharge 20MW at 18:45), you must command the battery to do so. This is different from other markets, like ERCOT, where the market operator is able to control the battery – so they are the ones deploying operating reserve capacity or sending basepoint instructions to the plant.

This is a bit unique and may seem inconsequential – but it means you need a system able to:

• Read hundreds of instructions sent by CAISO’s Automated Dispatch System (ADS).
• Identify the ones that are relevant for your asset.
• Send the appropriate commands to the battery in real time.

Without a reliable “translator” between CAISO and your asset, you risk non-compliance and lost revenue opportunities. Outsourcing this to a party not actively involved in dispatch decisions may necessitate implementing more basic strategies.

The multitude of market products (and requirements), constraints from preexisting contracts such as RA, and 75-minute lockout period make operating in CAISO unique and complex.

Testing different operating strategies through shadow market simulations before going live with an asset can set you up for top revenue outcomes from day one – and ensure you are successfully delivering on all contractual obligations, and adhering to all project constraints.

Pre-COD is the time to:

• Test operating strategies: Configure “digital twins” of your battery with different parameters – for example, cap AS participation, implement a high hurdle rate for cycles, and more – to see which approach yields the highest returns.
• Ensure compliance: See that your optimizer is adhering to must-offer obligations and minimum state of charge rules.
• Observe bid plan feasibility: Would the simulated AS bids be deliverable? Are you set up for compliance, and to maintain your ability to maneuver in real-time? 

For every Tyba customer, we create a digital twin of their asset and simulate multiple operating strategies that vary parameters such as risk profile prior to going live.

By testing in a no-risk environment, we find the best strategy for your battery, site, and goals, so you enter the market prepared. You’ll see how each approach performs overall and on specific days, like a day with extreme heat and high load versus an average spring day.

Getting a storage asset live in CAISO takes collaboration and intentionality. All parties involved need to be mutually invested in ensuring systems talk to each other seamlessly, the battery can reliably respond to market instructions, unique rules are understood and adhered to, and your operating strategy has been stress-tested against real market conditions.

Handled well – and with the right team – these steps set you up for success from day one.

Working through your CAISO go-live approach? We’re here to help.