Click for more information.
RMI today announced the expansion of the Virtual Power Plant Partnership. This non-profit organization led by the Rocky Mountain Institute is looking to accelerate global energy transformation. A virtual power plant, aka VPP* or the comingVP3** combines and coordinates distributed energy resources “to benefit all those who rely on the electric grid.”
It involves hundreds or thousands of households and businesses that offer the concealed potential of their electric vehicles (EVs), smart thermostats, appliances, batteries, and solar arrays to support the grid. It wants to transform policy to support scaling VPPs in ways that help advance affordable, reliable electric sector decarbonization by overcoming barriers to VPP market growth.
VP3 follows the institutional spinoffs in the electric sector previously developed by RMI, including the Clean Energy Buyers Association and the Energy Web Foundation. Initial funding was made possible by General Motors and Google Nest. Today, VP3 includes Ford, General Motors, Google Nest, OhmConnect, Olivine, SPAN, SunPower, Sunrun, SwitchDin, and Virtual Peaker. Notably absent are Stellantis and Toyota.
“Virtual power plants are poised for explosive growth, and RMI is committed to being at the forefront of their success by launching VP3,” said RMI CEO Jon Creyts. “Our analysis shows that VPPs can reduce peak power demand and improve grid resilience in a world of increasingly extreme climate events. A growing VPP market also means revenue opportunities for hardware, software, and energy-service companies in the buildings and automotive industries. For large energy users, VPPs can significantly reduce energy spend while providing new revenue streams.”
*VPP
In a VPP decentralized distributed energy resources (DERs) are aggregated into a portfolio. Customers themselves or their authorized energy management companies – with customer permission and the help of software – can adjust charging, discharging, output, and demand from DERs in response to signals from markets and grid operators. In this way, VPPs can play an important role in efficiently matching energy supply and demand, it’s claimed. The components of a VPP can include electric vehicles (EVs) and chargers, heat pumps, home appliances, HVAC equipment, batteries, plug loads, and industrial mechanical equipment. Single-family homes, multi-family homes, offices, stores, factories, cars, trucks, and buses can all participate in a VPP.
**VP3’s Stated Goals
“With the guidance and support of its members, VP3 is working toward a future where businesses, households, and communities are empowered through VPPs which can help to support cost-effective energy, emissions reductions, and a more resilient electricity grid. To achieve this, VP3 will work to:
- Catalog, research, and communicate VPP benefits;
- Develop industry-wide best practices, standards, and roadmaps;
- Inform and shape policy development.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Virtual Power Plant Partnership – Ford, GM, SunPower, Others
Click for more information.
RMI today announced the expansion of the Virtual Power Plant Partnership. This non-profit organization led by the Rocky Mountain Institute is looking to accelerate global energy transformation. A virtual power plant, aka VPP* or the comingVP3** combines and coordinates distributed energy resources “to benefit all those who rely on the electric grid.”
It involves hundreds or thousands of households and businesses that offer the concealed potential of their electric vehicles (EVs), smart thermostats, appliances, batteries, and solar arrays to support the grid. It wants to transform policy to support scaling VPPs in ways that help advance affordable, reliable electric sector decarbonization by overcoming barriers to VPP market growth.
VP3 follows the institutional spinoffs in the electric sector previously developed by RMI, including the Clean Energy Buyers Association and the Energy Web Foundation. Initial funding was made possible by General Motors and Google Nest. Today, VP3 includes Ford, General Motors, Google Nest, OhmConnect, Olivine, SPAN, SunPower, Sunrun, SwitchDin, and Virtual Peaker. Notably absent are Stellantis and Toyota.
“Virtual power plants are poised for explosive growth, and RMI is committed to being at the forefront of their success by launching VP3,” said RMI CEO Jon Creyts. “Our analysis shows that VPPs can reduce peak power demand and improve grid resilience in a world of increasingly extreme climate events. A growing VPP market also means revenue opportunities for hardware, software, and energy-service companies in the buildings and automotive industries. For large energy users, VPPs can significantly reduce energy spend while providing new revenue streams.”
*VPP
In a VPP decentralized distributed energy resources (DERs) are aggregated into a portfolio. Customers themselves or their authorized energy management companies – with customer permission and the help of software – can adjust charging, discharging, output, and demand from DERs in response to signals from markets and grid operators. In this way, VPPs can play an important role in efficiently matching energy supply and demand, it’s claimed. The components of a VPP can include electric vehicles (EVs) and chargers, heat pumps, home appliances, HVAC equipment, batteries, plug loads, and industrial mechanical equipment. Single-family homes, multi-family homes, offices, stores, factories, cars, trucks, and buses can all participate in a VPP.
**VP3’s Stated Goals
“With the guidance and support of its members, VP3 is working toward a future where businesses, households, and communities are empowered through VPPs which can help to support cost-effective energy, emissions reductions, and a more resilient electricity grid. To achieve this, VP3 will work to:
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.