Three virtual power plant (VPP) programmes have been announced in California and Colorado. Two of them will use Tesla’s Powerwall battery. Another is attempting to change customer habits to save energy and money.
US solar and storage developer Adapture Renewables has acquired a hybrid 110MW solar and 110MW battery energy storage system (BESS) project from Samsung C&T Renewables.
Virtual power plants (VPPs) are networks of small-scale, distributed energy resources, such as solar panels or batteries (and in some instances vehicles) which can together function as a single power plant, providing stability to the electric grid.
US utility Xcel Energy has revealed energy deployment plans for the Upper Midwest region, including 3.6GW of renewables and 600MW of energy storage by 2030.
Projects using novel, non-lithium battery technology have been progressed by organic flow battery firm CMBlu, liquid metal battery firm Ambri, and the NAS battery division of NGK Insulators.
US utility company Xcel Energy has received approval from Minnesota state regulators to build a 1GWh project in the state using Form Energy’s iron-air battery storage technology.
Utility Xcel Energy has received a US$20 million grant commitment from VC firm Breakthrough Energy for projects using Form Energy’s iron-air battery, while a sodium ion battery firm has secured bridge financing.
Utility Xcel Energy’s latest resource plan for Colorado, aimed at increasing renewable energy generation and aiding the retirement of coal plants, was approved by the state’s Public Utilities’ Commission (PUC) on Monday.
Xcel Energy has filed a plan which would retire two coal plants, add significant capacities of renewables and gas – and deploy 275MW specifically in combination with PV.
