Virtual Power Plants Going Global: China Utility Achieves 1.163M kWh Aggregation to Alleviate Utility Stress
Virtual power plants are going global.
The ability to aggregate the power of many microgrids and other distributed energy resources (DERs) is ramping up in many countries, including the U.S., and coming to the aid of utility grids which are stressed by extreme temperatures and equipment outages.
China, which seeks to challenge the U.S. in other energy categories such as renewables and battery storage, now claims new heights in its work on virtual power plant (VPP) technology. State Grid Shanghai Municipal Electric Co. this week has reported a new VPP demand response which achieved 1.163 million kWH of load adjustment during a peak demand with record temperatures in China.
Virtual power plants aggregate tens, hundreds or even thousands of DERs into a single, dispatchable resource that can either reduce load or create supply during times of peak demand, helping the grid to stay in balance. In the State Grid Shanghai case, the utility aggregated resource generation and load decreases from 47 operators, which included data centers, HVAC and EV charging stations (pictured).
Demand response technology utilizing digitalization not only deploys distributed energy resources into the grid, but also adjusts the load from customers through devices controlling thermostats, lighting, heating and cooling. In the U.S. and Canada, utilities and companies such as sonnen, San Diego Gas & Electric, CPower, Southern California Edison, Hawaiian Electric, Dominion Energy and Renew Home.
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The State Grid Shanghai demand response deployment was the largest VPP aggregation ever in that city, according to the report. It came at the perfect time with extreme weather pushing demand above 40 million kW just a few days ago, according to the state-run utility report.
VPPs, demand response and other grid services are considered ways to expand the value proposition around microgrids beyond just occasional backup power. Utilities in many states will pay DER operators to contribute to the grid in times of peak demand, both to ensure resource adequacy for electricity customers but also to maintain grid system frequency and other benefits.
State Grid Shanghai says it’s VPP capacity and enrollment has grown 81% since 2024. This State Grid Shanghai report came via ECNS.cn, a website for China News.
About the Author
Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor
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Rod Walton has spent 17 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.
Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World.
EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023
Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.