Virtual Power Plants – the next frontier for sustainable energy

Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) is an innovative concept that is already in use and will, no doubt, play a major role in fighting climate change. It will also change the way we consume (and produce) energy in general. However, for a VPP to actually work, a comprehensive cloud-based IT solution that is tailored for a specific market is a must. This short piece will be focusing on just that.?

With the rising popularity of solar farms, wind parks, battery energy storage systems (BESS), and Combined Heat & Power units, some utilities have started linking them up into decentralised networks. These networks can then be tapped whenever the power grid is stretched, e.g., during peak consumption hours, or store renewable energy when there’s a surplus in the grid. While the amount of energy generated by consumer-grade solar panels owned by individuals is typically far below the minimum bid size of the markets, when aggregated into a virtual network, it can be sold to central power plants or industrial consumers with ease.

Investment in VPPs – already in use, however incipiently, in the U.S., Australia, Japan, and Europe – is estimated to exceed $110B by around 2025 . These networks could also reduce U.S. peak demand by 60 gigawatts , which is the average amount of power consumed by 50M households, as soon as by 2030.?

For VPPs to function properly, a robust, advanced cloud infrastructure is absolutely crucial. Every virtual network uses a “command system” that not only unites a diverse array of energy sources, but also relies on sophisticated deep learning algorithms (e.g. recurrent or convolutional neural networks) to predict electricity demand patterns and distribute power when and where it is needed, so it is used in a most sustainable way, without employing conventional power plants that run on fossil fuels.?

These cloud-based systems also perform a host of other critical functions. These include high-performance weather forecasting models, distributed control architectures with redundant controllers to ensure grid stability, blockchain peer-to-peer energy trading modules, and more.

Why is this important? Because a VPP is neither a single power plant, nor a power plant at all. It’s a series of separate plants connected through cloud technology into a coherent, albeit virtual, network.?

Cloud infrastructure also enables remote monitoring and control, allowing operators to manage the VPP from anywhere and real-time (with minimal delay in decision making based on energy consumption). It can also be easily scaled whenever the need arises - connecting additional energy producing and consuming assets to the existing virtual power plant network.

Sounds interesting? Let’s chat!