Virtual Power Plant

Inspiration

Energy access is a critical component of the expected standard of living of a developed nation, but in the US over 40% of low-income households spend over a tenth of their income on household energy needs. Philadelphia has the highest poverty rate of America’s 25 most populated cities, and residents experience much higher energy burdens in comparison to the majority of the country. Increasing electricity demands coupled with the transition to renewable energy generation will inevitably lead to a decrease in grid reliability under our current energy distribution system. The key actors in our energy system are changing because of the adoption of Distributed Energy Resources (DER), and electrification. The Virtual Power Plant (VPP) has the potential to increase the reliability of the grid, optimize the benefits of DERs, and incentivize a coordinated electrified consumer market. An optimal implementation of a VPP in Philadelphia will decrease energy costs, remove barriers to a green energy transition, and provide flexibility to all residents to establish a better position to manage their energy needs. The global VPP market is expanding rapidly as a response to global efforts towards a green energy transition. Both Technical VPPs (energy provider operated), and Commercial VPPs (privately owned) attempt to coordinate a combination of renewable energy generation, energy storage, and load shifting in their implementation. Our team has done extensive research into the load shifting component of VPPs with a particular focus towards load shifting at residential scale. This component of VPPs has a very complex pricing structure, requires large scale adoption, and has received very limited attention within the VPP space. This component of VPPs has a large potential to increase energy equity, and to expand authority to all consumers of the grid.