Sunrun, Sunpower, Google Nest and more in new RMI-led virtual power plant partnership

By Cameron Murray
January 12, 2023
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
VPP partnership members Sunrun and Ford have collaborated to create bi-directional charging capabilities for the latter’s F150 Lightning electric truck. Image: Sunrun / Ford.

Google’s smart home division has joined a group of companies including Ford, Sunpower and Sunrun in founding a new partnership centred around scaling the market for virtual power plants (VPP).

The companies announced the launch of the Virtual Power Plant Partnership (VP3), led by RMI, a non-profit focused on accelerating the energy transition globally.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

Founding members include automotive OEMs Ford and General Motors, smart home solutions providers Google Nest, OhmConnect and SPAN, and distributed energy resources (DERs) platform and VPP solution companies Olivine, SunPowerSunrun, SwitchDin, and Virtual Peaker.

VP3 will, in its own words, “…work to catalyse industry and transform policy to support scaling VPPs in ways that help advance affordable, reliable electric sector decarbonisation by overcoming barriers to VPP market growth”.

It said that VPPs can leverage EVs, smart thermostats and appliances, batteries, solar PV arrays and additional energy assets to support the grid.

RMI CEO Jon Creyts said: “Our analysis shows that VPPs can reduce peak power demand and improve grid resilience in a world of increasingly extreme climate events. A growing VPP market also means revenue opportunities for hardware, software, and energy-service companies in the buildings and automotive industries. For large energy users, VPPs can significantly reduce energy spend while providing new revenue streams.”

The new organisation will work to:

  1. Catalog, research, and communicate VPP benefits
  2. Develop industry-wide best practices, standards, and roadmaps
  3. Inform and shape policy development

Find out more about VP3 here.

This story first appeared on Energy-Storage.news.

PV Tech publisher Solar Media will host the 5th Energy Storage Summit USA, 28-29 March 2023 in Austin, Texas. Featuring a packed programme of panels, presentations and fireside chats from industry leaders focusing on accelerating the market for energy storage across the country. For more information, go to the website.

Read Next

October 23, 2025
Spanish power electronics specialist Ingeteam has won a contract to supply inverters and control systems for European Energy Australia's 100MW Winton North solar-plus-storage project in northeast Victoria.
October 21, 2025
Australia's solar-plus-storage sector gained momentum with 725MW of solar PV approvals advancing across New South Wales and Queensland.
October 15, 2025
The Australian government has approved the 141MW Forbes Solar Farm Project in New South Wales in just 19 days, marking one of the fastest environmental approvals on record in the country.
October 10, 2025
Australia's renewable energy sector recorded its slowest month of the year for additions in September, with 5.8GW of new projects added to development pipelines, according to data from Rystad Energy.
October 2, 2025
The European solar sector will lose around 5% of its jobs in 2025, the first contraction in employment for the sector in nearly a decade.
Premium
September 26, 2025
CALSSA's Kevin Luo spoke with PV Tech Premium exclusively on the association’s complaint about slow approval practices in California.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Webinars
November 12, 2025
10am PST / 1pm EST
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK
Solar Media Events
March 10, 2026
Frankfurt, Germany