Whenever you hear the word “virtual” you probably think about social media, a bunch of gamers, or some wacky headset. But truth being said, virtual isn’t virtual anymore, it’s as real as all the physical things around us. We can’t just dismiss it as some technology of the future. Remember when our mail was delivered to us in a physical box outside the front of our house? Now, we make the majority of our day’s decisions based upon what our emails and notifications have lined up for us in the morning. When you think about it, it wasn’t that long ago that our current existence would have seemed “next-gen”, right?
To define a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) in the simplest words, it is a network of decentralised, medium-scale power generating units (think wind farms, solar parks and combined-heat-and-power units), coupled with flexible power consumers and storage systems.
A key feature of VPPs is that they can sum up the flexible capacity to address peaks in electricity demand. In this respect, they have the capacity to replace existing infrastructure and help address distribution network bottlenecks. More often than not, this comes with a lesser, or similar, capital outlay. Though there’s no single silver bullet to address the problem overnight, Arnowa’s technology ecosystems present several viable options to mitigate the challenge and create tremendous socio-economic opportunities. These will not only expand a country’s electric-powered industrial base, but also raise the standard of living.
The Indian energy market is very complex. India consists of 29 states, and each state has its own Transmission System Operator and authority to make rules. Each state also decides on individual goals, prices and imbalance mechanisms for renewables. So the ancillary services are central, but prices and rules are governed by the individual states. Yes, this all sounds like a chaotic mixture of centralized and state-run regulations. However, there is a national agency, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, drives the development. This is similar to the relationship of the European Union and its member states. As the energy system becomes more renewable and distributed, the requirement for flexibility to adapt to sudden changes in load or generation increases.
Back to how we’re changing the game, Arnowa combines our renowned IoT and Industry 4.0-based hardware, as well as our proprietary Energy Management Software (EMS) platform bolstered with the power of AI and Machine Learning. These form a comprehensive ecosystem which manages all aspects of a VPP — all in one powerful solution. Arnowa VPPs even improve power quality (both active and reactive power) by managing smart inverter profiles at the station, feeder and transformer levels with surgical precision.
But how will this fit in the greater good?
By providing real-time control and visibility for power generation and other distributed energy resources (DERs). Our tech allows flexibility on the distribution grid by integrating and utilising end-customer installations of batteries, microgrids, and other DERs. Our EMS platform aggregates, forecasts and optimises flexible capacity from DERs at the sub-station, feeder and transformer levels. The result is a robust VPP that is reactive to distribution management needs, in real-time. It also allows our customers full visibility and management of their DERs, including third-party solar and storage aggregates, from one vendor-neutral platform.
Some of the many real-time benefits you can experience with Arnowa VPPs include:
- Reduced dependence upon resource-intensive, non-renewable sources.
- Reduced environmental impact (carbon and other pollution).
- Reduced energy and asset management costs.
- New sources for revenue generation from an existing asset (i.e. sharper ROIs!)
Virtual Power Plants are garnering attention and traction all around the world. They’re the key to reap cost-savings and environmental benefits both providers and consumers alike. What’s more, they bring more renewable energy to the grid, 24 hours a day, which we all know is a necessary step to secure a carbon-neutral future. So step into the virtual future with us. Start by clicking here to discover more.
