virtual power plant

Rhythm Energy, a provider of renewable energy for U.S households and businesses, said it will introduce a new virtual power plant (VPP) offering that enables residential customers in major markets to better integrate home batteries, and other connected assets, with the energy grid. The new offer announced November 11 will help customers lower their electricity […]

Historically, the relationship between energy producers and consumers has been straightforward—energy companies produce energy, grid operators deliver that energy, and end users consume the energy they receive. Energy flowed in one direction, from generators to homes and businesses. Producers and consumers were easy to identify in this market because there was no overlap, and they […]

EnergyHub, a leading provider of grid-edge flexibility solutions, on September 4 announced the acquisition of Bridge to Renewables (BTR), a strategic investment that will accelerate utility electric vehicle (EV) program growth.

The past few years have brought decades worth of change to electric utilities. An increasing fraction of supply is coming from intermittent sources like solar and wind. Energy storage technology has become economically viable and has seen widespread deployment. And the industry as a whole is grappling with what seems like insatiable new demand from […]

A virtual power plant (VPP) is a network of decentralized, small- to medium-scale power generating units, flexible power consumers, and storage systems that are aggregated and operated as a single entity through sophisticated software and control systems. Unlike a traditional power plant that exists in a single physical location, a VPP is distributed across multiple […]

Torus and Rocky Mountain Power, following the recent signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU), on Feb. 7 released additional technical details about the integration of Torus’s commercial energy storage technology into Rocky Mountain Power’s Wattsmart Battery program. The proposed 70-MW demand response initiative will leverage Torus’s Nova Spin and Nova Pulse technologies to enhance […]

Nostromo Energy, provider of the IceBrick thermal energy storage (TES) technology, said the company has received a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $305.5 million from the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO). The proposed financing would be used by Nostromo for Project IceBrick, the first wide-scale deployment of […]

The Dell name is synonymous with technology and innovation, so perhaps it’s not surprising that a member of that famous computing family is working to solve the challenge of making electricity more reliable and resilient. The technology is distributed batteries, in this case a battery for the home that supports the power grid during periods […]

Through its innovative virtual power plant (VPP), Arizona Public Service (APS) harnessed smart home devices to save 138 MW during a historic heatwave, shifting peak demand and proving critical for grid

Platte River Power Authority’s board of directors approved the utility’s 2024 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) on July 25, including the recommended “optimal new carbon” portfolio that adds 760 MW of new renewable energy projects between now and 2030. “We’ve heard from numerous community members throughout this process and I appreciate how transparent Platte River continues […]

Sunnova Energy International Inc., an adaptive energy services company, announced continued investments and expansion to its virtual power plant (VPP) network, providing increased reliability, reduced emissions, and lower costs. With its VPP investments, Sunnova is boosting accessibility in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, and Texas to enable customers to rapidly access […]

Virtual power plants (VPPs), as aggregations of dispatchable distributed energy resources (DERs), can deliver grid services ranging from resource adequacy to reliability at scale—all while making energy more affordable. Yet, despite their merits, the U.S. utility industry is yet to leverage the full potential of these readily available, affordable, customer-sited resources to add flexibility to the grid. Of course, the decision to incorporate […]

To state it simply, current decarbonization goals cannot happen without deeper engagement between utilities and their customers, and utilities are not yet truly harnessing the potential that their customers bring. In order to begin to realize this wholesale shift from customers as “load” to customers as “resource,” utilities must facilitate customer participation in energy-saving initiatives […]

My job has made me a frequent flyer, but I can’t imagine stepping onto a plane without confidence in the air traffic control system and its complex interplay of regulation, technology, communications, scheduling, and human expertise. Many obstacles were overcome to achieve modern aviation—and the same is true where I work: today’s electric grid. Virtual […]

Sunnova Energy Corp., an energy-as-a-service (EaaS) provider, has snagged a first-of-its-kind conditional federal loan guarantee commitment of up to $3 billion for a project that could further future virtual power plant (VPP) deployment. The Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) on April 20 said it would provide a partial loan guarantee for up […]

LONDON, UK (February 07, 2023) – SolarEdge Technologies, Inc., a global leader in smart energy technology, today announced the launch of its first Battery Virtual Power Plant supporting Great Britain’s National Grid ESO Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) in collaboration with leading UK energy infrastructure company Smart Metering Systems Plc. (SMS-plc).  The service is available to thousands […]

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—December 22, 2022—To help deliver on its 2030 Zero Carbon Plan to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from its power supply, Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) and Swell Energy (Swell) today announced an agreement for Swell to act as the aggregator for the new My Energy Optimizer Partner+ program – a residential customer-driven virtual power […]

A California company known for its residential energy management systems has announced it is collaborating with a provider of building energy solutions and a solar technology company to modernize energy infrastructure and provide support to the power grid. OhmConnect is an Oakland-based group that creates grid-connected homes to leverage energy storage, solar power, heating, cooling, […]

REDWOOD CITY, CA (March 17, 2022) — Industry leading Virtual Power Plant (VPP) provider, AutoGrid Systems Inc., is using its platform to deploy a large-scale residential battery VPP in the Southern California Edison’s (SCE) Power Flex program to contribute to cleaner energy throughout the state, and help accelerate California’s carbon neutrality goals. SCE, the state’s […]

SAN FRANCISCO & BOSTON – February 2, 2022 – Voltus, Inc., the leading distributed energy resource (DER) software technology platform, and Mawson Infrastructure Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: MIGI) (“Mawson”), a global leading-edge digital asset infrastructure company, today announce plans to deliver 100 megawatts (MWs) of distributed energy resources to the PJM electricity grid in 2022. Mawson […]

New distributed energy resources (DERs) are being added to the power grid every day. However, DERs don’t automatically provide owners with the greatest value possible. In many cases, that requires the help of an aggregator, that is, a company that specializes in managing DERs owned by a pool of clients and optimizing performance of the […]

Declarations of climate emergencies in many countries around the world have created awareness for the need to switch to clean energy sources, which in turn has prompted the power industry and governments to take action or set definite goals. Many governments around the world now provide incentives to individuals, industries, and communities who are interested […]

If you’ve seen the musical “Cabaret,” you know that “money makes the world go ‘round” in a variety of ways. While it may not indeed make the power and energy sectors “go ‘round,” money does

Power plant operators continually search for ways to make electricity production and transmission more efficient. With more generation sources coming online, the use of artificial intelligence and machine

LOS ANGELES, California (Jan. 18, 2021) — Swell Energy, Inc. today announced that the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has approved its $25 million contract with Hawaiian Electric for the delivery of various grid services through an aggregated “virtual power plant” (VPP) on three islands. Swell Energy, a California-based energy and smart grid solutions provider, will deploy behind-the-meter […]

A distributed energy power plant, designed to help bring more reliability to California’s power grid, is being developed by a company whose investors include Alphabet, the parent company of Google. The project when fully developed would be the world’s largest residential virtual power plant (VPP). Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners (SIP), a group that builds, owns, operates, […]

Enel Ready to Close Italian Coal Plants. Enel, Italy’s largest power generator, said it wants to close three coal-fired units in the coming months as part of the company’s complete exit from coal. Enel

A recent study found that electric vehicle (EV) batteries used as a utility virtual power plant (VPP) could shift the entire residential peak load to nighttime hours with only 10% EV market saturation. The research was conducted by Jackson Associates, an Orlando, Florida-based firm that does energy forecasting, data development, and energy-related analysis. The study […]

A blockchain pilot wrapped up by European transmission operator TenneT and storage solutions provider sonnen Group this May showed “tremendous potential” when used to network decentralized home storage

KYOTO, Japan (February 25, 2019) — Kyocera Corporation and New York-based LO3 Energy today announced a joint project to test the feasibility of a blockchain-managed virtual power plant (VPP) utilizing a peer-to-peer distributed consensus network. The test will start Feb. 28, 2019 at Kyocera’s Yokohama Nakayama Office in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, where a small VPP will […]