Sia Partners 2024 Sustainability Customer Journey…
Harnessing the Potential of Virtual Power Plants
The rising demand for energy and the global shift to renewables have made energy systems such as the Virtual Power Plant (VPP) increasingly important to the power industry. Realize your related opportunities through our suite of services applicable to all stages of the VPP lifecycle.
01
Why should you care about Virtual Power Plants?
Dramatic changes in the production and consumption of electricity have necessitated an evolution of existing means and methods of electricity delivery.
- Growth in Decentralized Energy Resources (DER) and new participants entering electricity markets
- Advantageous technology advancements in smart grids, IoTs, and DER systems
- Expanding need to address energy security and grid resilience
Virtual Power Plant Concept
A VPP aggregates geographically dispersed energy units into a single optimized entity that can dynamically organize energy production and trade energy intelligently.
Virtual Power Plant Benefits
VPPs are the latest iteration in the transformation of energy distribution. They help coordinate actors within the energy system and tackle continuous challenges some players face:
DER Operators
- VPPs provide the ability to accurately predict energy generation and consumption, allowing DER operators to optimize their network of assets more efficiently
Transportation & Distribution System Operators
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VPPs better integrate DER assets into energy markets, increasing visibility and efficiency in delivering grid services.
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VPPs have proven reliable when providing flexibility to the grid with effective and convincing demonstrations during grid outages and congestion events (California, Australia and many others)
Market Participants
- VPPs enable the direct marketing of electricity on different markets, making it difficult for retailers without VPP-related capabilities to be profitable
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VPPs manage to leverage behind-the-meter resources, both fostering their deployment and rewarding their participation
02
What drives and hinders VPP deployment?
Large-scale deployment of VPPs will require addressing both technical and regulatory challenges related to several stages of feasibility exploration and design.
VPP business models adapt to potential participants
VPPs have adapted their system and business models to enable diverse DER Operators to benefit from their services. It is possible to differentiate these models by both the type and scale of DERs aggregated:
Coordination models evolve to facilitate DER participation
The deployment of VPPs is closely tied to the penetration of DERs, which means all actors involved in energy systems have a distinct role to play.
DER Operators
- DER technologies become more connected through the utilization of sophisticated hardware, increasing their grid visibility
Transportation & Distribution System Operators
- System operators are connecting behind-the-meter resources to the grid, facilitating participation among a greater diversity of energy assets
Market Participants
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Market policy is evolving to increasingly reward aggregated assets
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VPP participation is now allowed in all energy and flexibility markets
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VPP technologies are improving real-time data capture and processing
03
Our Offering & Capabilities
We help our energy, resources & utilities clients respond to opportunities by offering a comprehensive range of services spanning the entire Virtual Power Plant lifecycle; from procurement to design and implementation.
Industry key players that have benefited from our expertise including system operators, producers, and utilities across all global regions:
- Benchmarking of delivery and withdrawal of energy supply authorization for large US energy regulator
- Design and deployment of forecasting platform for leading European distribution grid operator, resulting in enhanced load and generation forecasting ability
- Design and deployment of flexibility platform for large European national grid operator, resulting in development of advanced capabilities
