A virtual power plant (VPP) has been put into operation in Western Australia to show how hundreds of distributed energy sources can help stabilize the power grid.
The virtual power plant is called "Project Symphony", which is jointly developed by Western Power, a state-owned power grid supplier, Synergy, a utility company, and AEMO, an Australian energy market operator.
AEMO announced last week that it has recruited more than 300 customers and more than 650 customer-owned distributed energy (DER) to participate in it, and built a technology platform for its DER integration.
The project will now start a period of scenario testing. AEMO will be the market and system operator, Synergy will be the aggregator, and Western Power will be the distribution network service operator.
The goal is to register up to 900 distributed energy sources in about 500 households and businesses.
Western Australia's power grid is not designed for the two-way power flow brought about by the transition to distributed and renewable energy. One-third of households in Western Australia have solar photovoltaic, and in Harrisdale and Piara Waters, Pialat, where the project is located, the proportion exceeds 50%.
By "coordinating" solar energy, household battery energy storage systems and some household appliances (such as smart thermostats), virtual power plants coordinate power generation and storage at the local level.
Kate Ryan, AEMO's executive general manager in charge of WA and strategy, said: "This is the first time in the history of Perth metropolitan area to" coordinate "the energy resources owned by customers (including rooftop solar energy and batteries) to test their ability to meet the challenges of system stability. At the same time, we are also transitioning to a low-cost renewable energy future." .
In other words, the virtual power plant responds to the power grid situation in real time, and manages the power flow during peak hours and off-peak hours. This project can make distributed energy more effectively integrated into the power grid, thus reducing the system cost of consumers, and releasing more capacity for renewable energy, so that it can be transmitted on the power network.
Project Symphony will test four different scenarios in the scenario testing phase. Including a simulated local electricity wholesale market, in which more than 200 distributed energy facilities will be used as a resource, which means that virtual power plants can bid and dispatch to the market while providing voltage services to the power network.
The project costs about 35.5 million Australian dollars (US$ 23.6 million). The test scenario will last until April 2023, and the key results will be announced before the end of 2023.
Funding comes from the Western Australian Government, Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and AEMO. This project is a key part of the distributed energy resource roadmap strategy of the state government's energy transformation.
Virtual power plants around the world are emerging in different configurations. So far, the largest virtual power plant in Australia is in South Australia. It completed its first trial phase in 2019, and equipped 1,100 social houses with solar energy and battery energy storage systems. The virtual power plant in South Australia is currently in its third phase, with more than 3,000 houses participating, with the goal of eventually reaching 50,000 connected households.
Bill Johnston, Energy Minister of Western Australia, said: "It's great to see hundreds of customers accept Project Symphony. Their participation will provide valuable advice on how to strengthen the power system in Western Australia to continue to provide reliable, safe and economical power. "
"In the face of the ever-changing energy industry, customers' rooftop solar system, battery and air conditioning system can play an important role in providing service and stability for the network."
