GM, Ford, Google collaborates to promote Virtual Power Plants to ease load on electric grids
- ByStartupStory | January 11, 2023
Companies like GM, Ford, Google, and solar energy producers announced on Tuesday that they would collaborate to develop standards for increasing the use of virtual power plants (VPPs), which are systems for easing load on electricity grids when supply is limited, Reuters reported.
The initiative, the Virtual Power Plant Partnership (VP3), will also aim to shape policy to promote the use of the systems, according to the companies.
“Virtual power plants will enable grid planners and grid operators to (better manage) growing electricity demand from vehicles, from buildings and from industry, and make sure that the grid can stay reliable even in the face of ongoing extreme weather challenges and aging physical infrastructure,” said Mark Dyson, managing director with the carbon-free electricity program at RMI.
Rob Threlkeld, director of global energy strategy at General Motors (GM.N), told Reuters that VP3 would be able to “show that EVs can become a reliable asset to the retail utility and or the retail transmission operator” and “can be an asset to a homeowner and to fleet customers.”
VPPs have already improved grid reliability in such countries as Germany and Australia and in some U.S. states.
During a record-breaking heat wave in August, wholesale market operator California Independent System Operator avoided blackouts by utilizing all available resources, including VPPs, to dispatch electricity. Google Nest smart thermostats helped to lighten the load.
“That is increasingly going to be required to make sure that the grid remains resilient, that we avoid blackouts and that we enable the grid to become cleaner and greener,” said Parag Chokshi, director of Google’s Nest Renew.
Virtual power plants combine thousands of decentralized energy resources, such as electric vehicles or smart thermostat-controlled electric heaters.
With customers’ permission, they use advanced software to respond to power outages by switching thousands of households’ batteries, such as those in EVs, from charge to discharge mode or prompting electricity-using devices, such as water heaters, to reduce their consumption.
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