We all have seen that renewable energy has become a new talk of the town these days, especially in Australia. So why not discuss VPP that is Virtual Power Plants and their benefits. If you keep yourself updated on what’s going on around you, then you must have heard about it before. Even if you haven’t, don’t worry we are here to help you out with this new highlighted term.
Basically, A virtual power plant is made up of a group of solar and battery storage systems. These plants can be set up and often includes residential homes and business places. However, VPPs can also include further other energy resources, such as electric hot water systems. These systems are then all managed and operated by a cloud-based control system and through an operator. The resources that are present under the VPP have been controlled through an operator. This operator releases the energy that is stored from the battery itself and then it is transferred to the grid. This condition is applicable when the demand for electricity reaches its peak.
Why the Virtual Power Plants are Being Trialed and Used?
The best advantage is that the energy that comes from the battery storage would help the grid without relying on coal power. Since the energy which is being used is completely renewable so the generated power is stored in batteries and can be used further when needed. Thus, it lowers the dependency on coal power and this method has been tested all around the world over years. This is the reason now, some of the retailers are offering and suggesting their customers opt for VPP.
The other reason for opting for VPP is the affordability of the battery by joining one. When you think of purchasing or installing a battery storage system, you get an upfront discount for your purchase and it happens sometimes that you get high feed-in tariff rates depending on the market since it fluctuates every time. We would suggest that before going for VPP, always do a little bit of research and make sure you are getting rewards for your contribution as well.
There is a piece of good news for the western australia people. The VPP technology is now about to be trialed as a part of Project Symphony that also involves VPP being developed by Western Power, Synergy, the Australian Energy Market Operator (or AEMO), and Energy Policy WA. The most important thing this trial will include is more than 500 households and businesses located in the southern river.
The best part is that the world’s biggest virtual power plant is in South Australia that is made up of 50,000 networks of solar power systems and tesla power all batteries. If you have researched then you must be aware of the Tesla batteries which is one of the most popular batteries in the world.
So.. are you up for VPPs?
It doesn’t matter much that whether you’re up for the concept of virtual power plants or not, you’ll likely be thinking a while between joining one or investing in your own battery storage system. So, If that’s the case, then think twice about it before investing as you’ll know that installing your own battery is an expensive investment. So, the point is that if you are not able to justify the price then joining a virtual power plant is a better option.
However VPPs are great options but, there are certain things that should be kept in mind before going for it. In some VPPs, it requires that you already have a battery installed before joining. So this will remove the benefit of an upfront discount on your system. But there is a possible way to fix it and that can be the case that you could have installed a battery that’s not eligible. One of the most common reasons that Australian people go for installing battery storage systems is to protect their homes from blackouts. And also they don’t want to depend on the grid.
You might be confused or still undecided about what to choose. So always a better idea to do your own research and think twice before making any investment.
Some Useful links about solar power in Perth WA, Australia:
https://solarpanelperth.weebly.com/blog/top-3-commercial-solar-projects-in-perth-wa
https://solarpanelperth.weebly.com/blog/top-5-solar-power-projects-worldwide
https://solarpanelperthwa.wixsite.com/blog/post/how-solar-power-system-affect-your-property
https://solar-power-perth.tumblr.com/post/648549936722477056/maximum-output-from-your-solar-panel
https://solar-power-perth.tumblr.com/post/646732750902247424/solar-power-installation-in-perth-wa
https://sites.google.com/view/solarperth/solar-battery-perth
https://sites.google.com/view/solarperth/solar-homes-program-in-victoria
https://solarpanelperthwa.medium.com/can-solar-panels-be-recycled-98d55addc56f