Google, Ford, GM and solar companies collaborate to promote the scaling of virtual power plants

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A group of bigwigs, including Ford, General Motors, Google Nest, OhmConnect, Olivine, SPAN, SunPower, Sunrun, SwitchDin, and Virtual Peaker, have formed a coalition that aims to expand the virtual power plant market in a bid to increase the grid resilience and contribute to the decarbonisation of the electricity sector.

Virtual power plants, or VPPs, are a logical next step to harnessing the full potential of the many electric vehicles, home energy storage systems, solar panels, smart thermostats, etc., which will soon become the norm rather than the outliers, al in order to improve the resilience of the network. However, as VPPs are a nascent technology, there is still a great need for the development of good standards and policies to truly scale it up and move the needle on grid decarbonisation.

The new organization, led by the Rocky Mountain Institute, is called the Virtual Power Plant Partnership, or VP3, and is funded by its founding members listed above. VP3’s intent is to work to “catalyze industry and transform policy to support the scaling of VPPs” and, to that end, the coalition will work closely with leading companies in sectors such as electric vehicles, residential energy systems, building controls, provider software with utility-facing solutions, and more.

Virtual powerhouses are poised for explosive growth and RMI is committed to being at the forefront of their success by launching VP3. Our analysis shows that VPPs can reduce peak power demand and improve grid resilience in a world of increasingly extreme weather events. A growing VPP market also means revenue opportunities for hardware, software and energy services companies in the building and automotive industries. For large energy users, VPPs can significantly reduce energy bills while providing new revenue streams. — Jon Creyts, Chief Executive Officer, RMI

According to RMI, the goals of VP3 are:

With the guidance and support of its members, VP3 is working towards a future where businesses, households and communities are empowered through VPPs that can help support affordable energy, emissions reductions and a more resilient power grid.

To achieve this, VP3 will work to:

Catalogue, research and communicate the benefits of VPP Develop industry-wide best practices, standards and roadmaps Inform and shape policy development

By bringing together a large number of decentralized energy assets, such as electric cars, home energy storage systems, electric water heaters, solar panels, “smart” electric heating systems and more into a single portfolio, these virtual power plants can put such energy resources work to stabilize the grid, improve the accessibility of electricity and increase energy independence. As Mark Mark Bole, GM VP and Head of V2X and Battery Solutions said, “Virtual power plants present an exciting opportunity to unlock added value for homes, businesses and communities, helping drive greater energy independence and grid decarbonization. .

With the use of the right hardware and some advanced software, as well as permission from customers (the owners of those distributed energy resources), a VPP can “regulate the charge, discharge, output and demand from DERs in response to signals from markets and grid operators.In this way, VPPs can play an important role in matching energy supply and demand smoothly and efficiently.

According to RMI, by 2030 virtual power plants “could reduce peak demand in the United States by 60 GW. That number could grow to more than 200 GW by 2050.”

Learn more about VP3 here.

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