virtual power plants

As distributed energy resources such as residential solar rooftop increase in the next decade, its use for virtual power plants could save US utilities up to US$35 billion, according to a study from consultancy The Brattle Group.

Israel-headquartered SolarEdge launched a software platform for aggregating household energy storage units - and other distributed energy equipment - into virtual power plants, last week. The company’s solution has already been chosen for a VPP project in Australia by AGL, one of the country’s biggest utilities. The commercial launch of the VPP platform direct to customers is now underway. Energy-Storage.News editor Andy Colthorpe spoke with Lior Handelsman, one of SolarEdge’s founders and vice president of marketing and product strategy.

A field trial to deploy 50 grid-connected energy storage systems will go ahead in Scotland between UK energy storage firm Moixa Technology, vertically integrated energy company Scottish Power and an energy efficiency advisory group.

The “extraordinary amount” of money Germany has spent transitioning away from fossil fuels and nuclear is looking increasingly like an investment in the country’s future competitiveness, according to the chief economist of the US Underwriters’ Laboratory.