Armada Power and Leap Announce Partnership to Expand Access to California Energy Markets

February 02, 2023 at 11:02 AM EST

Smart energy technology companies collaborate to bolster grid resiliency and drive new value for customers

Leap, a leading energy market access provider, and Armada Power, a leader in load management technology for electric water heaters, today announced a new partnership to offer grid services revenue opportunities to commercial and residential customers in California.

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Leap and Armada Power announce new partnership (Graphic: Business Wire)

Armada’s innovative technology unlocks a rated up to 5.5 kW of thermal energy storage potential of electric water heaters. Leap’s platform facilitates easy, automated access to energy markets. This partnership will deliver megawatts of reliable load to CAISO and generate new value for renters and property owners in demand response and other grid services programs and energy usage to help balance the grid. Through Leap and Armada’s partnership, residential and commercial buildings in California that use Armada’s electric water heater technology can become paid grid resiliency resources.

Last September’s historic heat wave in California demonstrated the growing importance of sustainable demand-side solutions to provide flexible support to the electric grid. In collaboration with Leap, Armada's network of energy assets will transact in California's wholesale energy market, allowing these flexible loads to both reduce strain during grid emergencies and also help balance the grid on a day-to-day basis. Thanks to Armada's unique aggregation approach, water heaters can offer flexibility to the grid without loss of hot water to the end user.

“We’re excited to work with Leap to grow our grid services footprint in California,” said Kit Hagen, Senior Vice President of Growth at Armada Power. “Leap and Armada’s complementary technology will create new value for building owners and for the grid without compromising the availability of hot water for our customers.”

Armada's innovative system provides value to owners of multifamily properties when they provide their tenants access to the Armada technology. In turn, the Armada technology ensures networked connectivity to ensure a guaranteed load responsive thermal storage to the CAISO market in partnership with Leap.

Leap’s software-only solution enables Armada to connect the water heaters across its portfolio to energy markets without any additional hardware. Together, Armada and Leap are expanding energy market access to a wider array of energy consumers, including multifamily buildings, a traditionally underserved sector in the grid services space.

“Water heaters have been an underutilized grid edge resource, but Armada Power has developed innovative technology to tap their enormous potential,” said Jason Michaels, Chief Commercial Officer at Leap, “We’re thrilled to partner with Armada to usher in the next generation of smart water heater load shifting capabilities that will unlock a more dynamic, resilient power system.”

About Leap

Leap is the leading global platform for generating new value from distributed energy resources through integration with energy markets. Leap does all of the heavy lifting, seamlessly connecting technology partners to high-value revenue streams and providing a simplified, automated access point for market participation with batteries, electric vehicle charging, smart thermostats, HVAC systems, and other flexible assets. By making it easy for distributed resources to participate in energy markets, Leap lays the groundwork for virtual power plants (VPP). Leap empowers its partners to provide resilient, zero-carbon capacity to the grid while strengthening engagement with their customers through new value streams.

About Armada Power

Armada Power is a technology and software company that incorporates behind-the-meter, thermal storage technology into a secure platform that allows for millisecond grid response for demand, circuit, voltage, and load controls. Armada Power avoids high-carbon generation sources in real time by soaking up excess renewable energy on the grid, effectively transforming the second largest residential energy load device into a zero-carbon storage asset. Follow the company on LinkedIn or Twitter (@PowerArmada).