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Australia developer moves ahead with 5 MW solar+storage virtual power plant

Australia developer moves ahead with 5 MW solar+storage virtual power plant

Dive Brief:

  • AGL Energy, an Australian company developing clean energy solutions, will install a 5 MW/7MWh virtual power plant in South Australia, linking solar panels and batteries across 1,000 homes and businesses.

  • The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has agreed to fund $5 million of the $20 million project, believing the VPP model could be a solution for the country's grid issues.

  • Similar to the AGL project in Australia, Consolidated Edison is developing a smaller VPP in New York where 300 customer sites will be capable of supplying 4 MWh of power.

Dive Insight:

The virtual power plant model—centralized control of dispatachable distributed resources—is being considered as a strategy to support Australia's grid issues and AGL's project could help pave the way for regulatory changes to enable more of the projects, and could cement a trend of VPPs entering energy markets as more renewables come online.

ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said the project could lead to solutions to the region's grid challenges, as well as mitigating fluctuations in power prices.

“This project is set to be the largest demonstration of a virtual power plant in the country," Frischknecht said in a statement. "South Australia is home to some of the highest levels of solar and wind in the world, making it an ideal proving ground."

He added it could "also act as a catalyst and provide evidence for regulatory change to enable more Australian virtual power plants. ARENA funding support depends on the negotiation of a funding agreement, which will include comprehensive knowledge sharing outcomes."

The approach aims to ease local network constraints and displace gas power during times of peak demand.

Con Edison's project is being developed as part of New York's Reforming the Energy Vision proceeding, a long-term strategy aimed at revolutionizing the grid and the business practices that enable it. The utility teamed up with SunPower and Sunverge Energy on the project to provide over 1.8 MW (4 MWh) of solar power at homes dispersed across its territory. Customers will lease the panels from SunPower, and for an additional monthly charge can have a battery system from Sunverge installed to add resiliency.

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