Jennifer Downing, senior advisor to the Loan Programs Office at the US Department of Energy (DOE) and author of a recent report into virtual power plant technology, speaks to Energy-Storage.news.
The versatility of battery storage to provide a broad range of services makes them “particularly valuable” to virtual power plants (VPPs), according to a senior advisor to the US Department of Energy (DOE).
A US$10.5 billion programme to “strengthen grid resilience and reliability” across the US includes funding for microgrids and other projects that will integrate battery storage technologies.
Enel has revealed the role its digital and distributed technology arm is playing in a European Union-funded project to simplify integration of energy storage systems.
As distributed energy resources such as residential solar rooftop increase in the next decade, aggregation into virtual power plants could save US utilities up to US$35 billion, according to The Brattle Group.
Finland telecommunications firm Elisa has received €3.9 million from the government to form a VPP using batteries which could be the largest of its kind in Europe.