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https://reneweconomy.com.au/nsw-recruits-21-businesses-in-first-vpps-designed-to-help-keep-lights-on-and-prices-down/>
"Three virtual power plants made up of 21 businesses at 108 sites have been
recruited to help New South Wales kick its coal habit and make a smooth
transition to renewables, as part of the state’s first firming tender.
NSW energy minister Penny Sharpe said on Tuesday that the three large-scale
virtual power plants, or VPPs, are being underwritten by the state Labor
government through the Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap.
The VPPs, operated by Enel X, will orchestrate the loads of major power users
ranging from heavy industry to data centres and food producers, to use less
energy at times of peak electricity demand, or major grid events, to help avoid
blackouts and price spikes.
In return, the businesses involved in the VPPs will be compensated to adjust
their energy use when the grid needs it most, which is anticipated to be no
more than a few times a year.
The first of the three VPPs was launched by Sharpe on Tuesday at the site of
one of the participants, Visy Recycling in Western Sydney. But the minister
says that when all three are operational by summer, they will have a combined
capacity of 95 megawatts (MW) of demand response.
This means they will free up enough electricity to power more than 30,000 homes
for two hours during times of peak demand, at short notice if needed, to keep
the lights on and the grid stable.
It’s like bringing a physical power plant online, Sharpe says, but at a much
lower cost than building more large-scale generation projects that would rarely
be used.
The minister might add that it’s also a much cheaper and more palatable option
than paying to keep a clunky old coal plant open, just in case."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
