London to Launch its First Virtual Power Station Powered by the Sun and Batteries

1. London to Launch its First Virtual Power Station Powered by the Sun and Batteries UK Power Networks, the leading electricity network in the country has announced its latest project to launch London’s very first ‘virtual power station’ (VPP) using online PowerVault batteries and domestic solar panels. Presently, the company supplies energy to more than 8 million houses and organizations across the East and South East of England. A few days back, London city made a major announcement of creating a ‘Virtual Power Station’ that will focus on installing solar panels and batteries for around 40 homes all across the London Borough of Barnet. The Bedrock of the Project The idea behind this project is simple - there are already many solar power panels installed on top of the many houses in London, to generate electricity. Incorporating batteries into this equation would allow them to store the generated electricity for future use during emergency situations. Many a time, the generation of energy is more than required, which often goes to waste. However, when you attach a couple of batteries together, electricity and utility suppliers like UK Power Networks can initiate these batteries to discharge the stored electricity and reduce the pressure on the network during a high demand situation, thereby creating a ‘Virtual Power Station.’ To be a part of this project, residents will have to sign a contract which will allow the company to retrieve their battery stored electricity and in return, they will be paid for the retrieved energy.

2. The Approach of UK Power Networks The Director of Asset Management at UK Power Networks, Barry Halton, explains that they are committed to harnessing new technologies to offer sustainable and economic benefits to the customers. The company plans to create the nations’ first ‘virtual power station’ and pave way for a smarter and more flexible electricity network that puts habitats in charge of the energy consumption. He further elaborates that prolific projects like this are just the beginning as the company moves towards a decarbonized, decentralized, and digitalized network that will offer environmental as well as commercial advantages. It will help in keeping the electricity distribution costs low by offering a viable alternative to the conventional approach of merely installing additional cables and substations to increase energy capacity. A Project Backed by a Successful Trial The UK Power Network’s latest virtual power station is backed by a successful trial that took place in February this year. The trial employed 45 PowerVault batteries that were controlled by remote to minimize the consumption during the peak hours. This approach reduced the evening household demand by approximately 60%. PowerVault will set up 40 of the 8 kilowatt-hours (kWh) batteries that will be powered by solar or off-peak electricity from the network through PowerVault's aggregation platform to augment the system tenuously. Managing Director of PowerVault, Joe Warren, said that it would be a prominent development for the business and they are happy to partner up with UK Power Network. Providing payment to supporting local networks along with generating savings from solar and time-of-use tariffs will open newer prospects for customers and move the company closers towards its objective of rendering a mass-market product. Additionally, it also goes to prove the significance of domestic battery storage in the overall energy system.

3. Looking at the Future As per the spokesperson of the UK Power Networks, the project of Virtual PowerPoint (VPP) will be executed in a way that it gets most electricity from each resident without limiting the electricity supply to the household participating in this modern network. Furthermore, the VPP project is a part of the company’s flexible programme that is being launched around various network areas. Therefore, while it is set up on past trial projects, it is a significant part of UK Power Networks businesses arrangement to organize the electric distribution system in a smarter and more efficient way. Presently, UK Power Networks is working towards rolling out the flexible program in several areas spread across its network horizon and the ones in and around London. Specifically, the company will be launching its Flexibility Roadmap by the end of July. This will apprise the stakeholders about the company’s vision for a flexible future. Lastly, in July, the firm will also be publishing an Expression of Interest which includes more areas where they can launch similar VPP services. A Growing Evolution Over the years, Many leading service providers along with storage system manufacturers and software companies have joined this sustainable transformation to generate virtual power plants. For example, at the beginning of 2018, Austin Energy, a Texas-based firm launched its pilot program to incorporate solar and storage into a VPP. The project was backed by a USD 4.3 million grant from the US Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative. With the current moderate price for batteries and other energy storage technologies, these resources are economical to adopt and are bound to get more mainstream as the prices are expected to fall further in the near future.