Norway based energy company Statkraft will develop a virtual power plant in the UK that will monitor operations of more than 1 GW of wind, solar, battery storage and flexible gas engines. The plant will constantly update day ahead, on-the-day and cashout price forecasts allowing real time optimization of power trading in the local energy market.
By the time summer arrives, Statkraft plans to double the capacity of this plant. It said the plant will facilitate the integration of intermittent power generation into the electricity system and lead to further expansion of renewable energy in the country.
It has contracted energy & meteo systems to deliver the virtual power plant software which will connect, coordinate and monitor decentralized power-generating sites, storage facilities and controllable loads through a common intelligent control centre.
"The idea is to match renewable power production with market demand within seconds. The increasing share of renewable energy in the UK will require a maximum of flexibility in the British power grid," said Vice President Sales & New Products of Statkraft in the UK, Duncan Dale. "By integrating batteries and engines into the virtual power plant and optimising their operations we can provide this flexibility reliably."
The Norwegian company says in Germany it interconnects more than 1.4 GW wind and solar installations in Europe's largest virtual power plant, with an installed capacity of some 12 GW. The system is again provided by energy & meteo systems. It enables second by second exchange of control signals, forecasts, and information about the actual generation of individual installations and the virtual power plant.
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