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More than Energy: Turning Distributed Energy Storage into a Virtual Power Plant

More than Energy: Turning Distributed Energy Storage into a Virtual Power Plant

Full Title: More than Energy: Turning Distributed Energy Storage into a Virtual Power Plant
Author(s): Sunverge and Brand Studio
Publisher(s): Sunverge and Brand Studio
Publication Date: January 1, 2016
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):

As the cold months of winter settle in, consumers are bracing themselves for lower temps and higher bills. With chilly air the norm for so many across the country, keeping warm is not a question, and going without the power to do so is not an option.

Not having the proper energy supply to stay warm in the cold months— and cool in the warm months—however, is becoming increasingly more common. The reliability of the electrical grid is decreasing; each year, the total number of minutes without power is increasing by 5% to 10% for customers.

Back-up power in general, even with batteries, is not a new concept for consumers. But as customer-sited renewables become far more prolific and increasingly involve battery systems thanks in part to sharply falling battery costs, consumers can now satisfy their desire to cut their electricity bills while minimizing the severity and duration of power outages with on-site distributed energy storage.

Coincidently as peak demand grows and distributed renewables reach higher levels of penetration, utilities are also focusing more on the benefits storage can provide. Some of these benefits include reducing transmission and distribution costs, shifting consumption from peak-demand periods, balancing intermittent resources, postponing the need for new generating plants or other infrastructure and providing frequency, and voltage support to the grid.

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