US non-profit Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) led Virtual Power Plant Partnership (VP3) to scale up the VPP market for decarbonization counts a diverse industrial base including Ford, General Motors, Google Nest, OhmConnect, Olivine, SPAN, SunPower, Sunrun, SwitchDin and Virtual Peaker as its founding members.
Through this initiative, RMI says the objective is to catalyze the industry, and transform policy to support VPPs advance affordable, reliable electric sector decarbonization by overcoming barriers to market growth.
A VPP works as a resource that aggregates a network of distributed energy resources (DER) for customers to help manage their energy needs in response to markets and grid operators.
RMI sees VPPs as having the potential to support the grid through electric vehicles (EVs), smart thermostats, appliances, batteries, solar arrays, and additional energy assets.
"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," explained RMI CEO Jon Creyts. "For large energy users, VPPs can significantly reduce energy spend while providing new revenue streams."
According to an RMI report by 2030, VPPs could reduce peak demand in the US by 60 GW, and could further grow to 200 GW by 2050.
As a partnership, VP3 has 3 main tasks, namely to catalog, research and communicate benefits of VPP; develop industry-wide best practices, standards and roadmaps; and inform and shape policy development. More about the partnership can be found on the VP3 website.