First Virtual Power Plant for Statkraft/UK

Statkraft, Europe's largest producer of renewable energies, and energy & meteo systems are bundling the fluctuating input from wind and solar power with battery storage capacity and flexible gas motors to form the largest virtual power plant in Great Britain. With the help of battery storage, for example, 80 MW of primary balancing power are made available. Further balancing power is made possible via the gas motors integrated into the virtual power plant. This contributes to the integration of a growing share of renewable energies in the British energy market.

With our Virtual Power Plant software, decentralized energy generating facilities, storage and controllable consumers are connected, coordinated and monitored via a common master display. Here it is able to participate in various energy markets as a conventional power plant. Through the combination of optimized power predictions, fluctuating, decentralized generators of electricity can be optimally integrated into the power grid and efficiently marketed on the power exchange.

Statkraft's Virtual Power Plant monitors the operations of more than 4.000 MW in Great Britain, consisting of wind and solar power, battery storage and flexible gas motors, all while comparing these with the constantly updated Day Ahead, On-the-Day and Cashout-Price predictions and allowing for the real-time optimization of electricity trading in the British energy market. The best possible usage of flexibilities will facilitate the integration of fluctuating power generation into the electricity system and, with that, the expansion of renewable energies in Great Britain.