In northern Germany, a 50MW/100MWh battery energy storage system named Strübbel has just been completed. This project, located in Europe's leading wind power region, features advanced Elementa storage solutions provided by Trina Storage, specifically designed to store excess wind and solar energy and discharge during peak demand, providing balancing and frequency regulation services to the German grid.

At the same time, in South Africa, the first wind-solar-storage integrated virtual power plant project being developed in collaboration between Sungrow and EDF Renewables is progressing. This project includes a 264MWh liquid-cooled energy storage system, composed of the Avondale solar-storage power station and the Dassiesridge wind-storage power station, which are located 900 kilometers apart. All systems use the Sungrow PowerTitan liquid-cooled energy storage system.

These projects showcase an emerging trend: Virtual Power Plants are quietly changing the rules of the game in the energy industry by aggregating distributed energy storage resources.

A virtual power plant is not a physical power plant, but an energy coordination management system. It aggregates distributed energy resources such as distributed power sources, energy storage systems, and controllable loads scattered across various locations through advanced information and communication technology and software systems, enabling collaborative optimization and control.

The energy storage system is the efficient and obedient "elite force" under the virtual power plant:

Execution and Storage: Quickly and accurately execute the charging and discharging instructions of the virtual power plant to achieve the "spatial and temporal shift" of electric energy.

Ability Carrier: Provides the capability foundation for core services such as peak shaving and frequency modulation.

Revenue Source: Create economic benefits for system owners by participating in electricity market transactions.

In southern Germany, ADS-TEC Energy is developing a larger project—a battery energy storage system with a 1GW output and 2GWh storage. The project will also integrate on-site photovoltaic power generation (with a scale in the double-digit megawatt peak range) and is expected to generate approximately 230 million euros in revenue annually (based on 2024 market data).

The combination of virtual power plants and energy storage has demonstrated diverse applications globally:

Germany: Energy Storage Projects Support Grid Stability In addition to the aforementioned Strübbel project, a 1GW/2GWh project in southern Germany is expected to be fully operational by 2029, at which point it will play a key role in stabilizing Germany's energy grid and advancing the country's renewable energy integration.

South Africa: The virtual power plant project that integrates wind, solar, and storage, a collaboration between Sungrow and EDF Renewables in South Africa, is the first virtual power plant project of its kind in Africa. It is estimated that after being connected to the grid, the project can generate nearly 400 million kilowatt-hours of clean electricity annually, meeting the annual electricity needs of 120,000 households. As a virtual power plant operator, it can achieve cross-regional energy collaborative scheduling, enhancing the stability of regional power supply.

United States: Record-breaking performance of virtual power plants. As early as 2019, Southern California Edison (SCE) company's virtual power plant (VPP) technology set a world record with a generation capacity of 2GWh, saving consumers over $1 million. This virtual power plant operated for a full 64 days during the winter peak demand season in 2018, becoming another world first.

The virtual power plant has opened up diversified profit channels for energy storage systems:

Participating in electricity market transactions allows energy storage systems to "sell at a good price" their regulation capabilities by aggregating resources to engage in the spot market and ancillary services market. In Germany, ADS-TEC Energy's 1GW/2GWh project is expected to generate approximately 230 million euros in revenue annually, demonstrating the enormous economic potential of large-scale energy storage systems in the electricity market.

Demand-side response subsidies respond to grid demand during peak electricity usage periods to receive subsidies. The virtual power plant project of Southern California Edison sent over 250 responses to the California Independent System Operator during the 11MW/60MWh first phase in 2018, demonstrating a high frequency of response capability.

Capacity leasing services provide backup capacity for the power grid and charge capacity fees. This model is particularly effective in areas with high demand for grid stability, such as the virtual power plant project in South Africa, which aims to effectively alleviate the electricity crisis in South Africa and enhance the stability of energy supply.

The core technology of the combination of virtual power plants and energy storage is continuously breaking through:

Artificial intelligence algorithms significantly improve prediction accuracy. Through machine learning models, the system can predict the generation capacity and electricity demand of distributed resources in advance, optimizing the charge and discharge strategy of the energy storage system.

5G communication provides millisecond-level response capability. The low-latency and highly reliable communication network enables virtual power plants to precisely control distributed energy storage resources, meeting the real-time adjustment needs of the power grid.

Blockchain technology ensures that transactions are transparent and trustworthy. Distributed ledger technology allows every kilowatt-hour transaction to be traceable and verifiable, solving the trust issues among multiple parties.

The virtual power plant is reshaping the future of the energy industry. It is not just a new technology, but a new type of energy ecosystem, an open collaborative platform.

On this platform, every distributed energy storage resource can play a role, and every participant can gain benefits. From energy storage systems in industrial parks to backup power sources in commercial buildings, and to future household energy storage devices, they will all become important components of this new type of power system.

As the proportion of renewable energy continues to increase, the demand for flexible resources in the power grid will grow, and the value of the combination of virtual power plants and energy storage will become more prominent.

【About Us | About Us】

Our company is a high-tech enterprise focused on the research and development, manufacturing, system integration, and solutions of advanced energy storage systems. We are committed to deeply integrating cutting-edge energy storage technology with practical application scenarios, providing customers with customized, safe, efficient, and economical energy storage solutions for industrial and commercial use, home energy storage, microgrids, outdoor power supplies, and integrated solutions for solar energy storage and charging.