https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-virtual-power-plant-rescues-grid-2-percent-complete/
[V2G is dead. (V2G stands for vehicle to grid, the quaint idea that
electric cars would be connected via a new generation of charging
stations to provide power from the car battery to the grid on those rare
occasions when the grid is looking for that supplementary power. Unlike
cars, house-based energy storage will not be stuck in traffic when the
grid needs to be bolstered. Again, V2G is dead.
Also, what the Tesla VPP (virtual power plant) did here was phenomenal!
links and video in online article]
By Simon Alvarez
Posted on December 9, 2019
Tesla's Virtual Power Plant rescues grid after coal peaker fails, and
it's only 2% finished
Tesla’s Virtual Power Plant project in South Australia is only around
~2% complete, but it is already proving to be a difference-maker,
rescuing Queensland’s grid during an unexpected power outage. The
response time and efficiency of the Virtual Power Plant mirror that of
Tesla’s other large-scale energy project in the region, the
highly-acclaimed Hornsdale Power Reserve.
Back in October, Queensland’s Kogan Creek coal power station, one of the
largest in the region, tripped and caused the power system to drop well
below the normal level of system frequency. Tesla’s Virtual Power Plant
promptly stepped in, detecting the frequency drop and injecting power
into the grid from Powerwall batteries loaded with energy from solar
panels installed in SA Housing Trust properties across the state.
In a statement about the VPP’s feat, South Australia Energy Minister Dan
van Holst Pellekaan highlighted the fact that Tesla’s Virtual Power
Plant is still in its early days. Despite this, it was able to respond
quickly. The feat was no joke, considering that the Kogan Creek station
is a fairly large coal power plant. “Although the Virtual Power Plant is
in its early days, it is already demonstrating how it can provide the
network support traditionally performed by large conventional
generators,” he said.
The Energy Minister’s statement is notable, considering that there are
only about 900 homes forming the Virtual Power Plant as of date. Tesla’s
target for the full VPP is a whopping 50,000 solar-powered,
Powerwall-equipped homes. If less than 2% of the planned Virtual Power
Plant can already rescue Queensland’s grid when a large coal plant
fails, one can only imagine how much stability a fully-completed VPP
could accomplish.
Violette Mouchaileh, the executive general manager of emerging markets
and services for the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), expressed
her optimism about the potential of Tesla’s Virtual Power Plant. “The SA
VPP has proven the aggregation of distributed energy resources can
benefit the power system and participating consumers. The opportunity
for VPPs to reach a large scale will benefit all energy users through
added competition to deliver services at reducing prices. We encourage
more VPPS to register to accelerate the shared learning on how to safely
and efficiently integrate, operate and regulate these emerging
technologies into the NEM,” she said.
The buildout of Tesla’s Virtual Power Plant in South Australia is
expected to be completed in three phases. In Phase 1, energy systems
will be delivered to 100 SA Housing properties. Phase 2 increases this
number with an additional 1,000 homes equipped with solar panels and
Powerwall batteries. Phase 3, provided that it does push through, would
expand the system to 50,000 homes. So far, Phase 1 has been completed,
and Phase 2 appears to be nearing completion as well.
Once complete, Tesla’s Virtual Power Plant in South Australia will
deliver 250MW of solar energy and store 650 MWh of backup energy for the
region. That’s notably larger than the Hornsdale Power Reserve, which is
already changing South Australia’s energy landscape with its
100MW/129MWh capacity. In a way, Tesla’s Virtual Power Plant may prove
to be a dark horse for the company’s Energy Business, which is
unfortunately underestimated most of the time. Couple this with the 50%
expansion of the Hornsdale Power Reserve, and Tesla Energy might very
well be poised to surprise in the coming quarters.
--
Darryl McMahon
Freelance Project Manager (sustainable systems)
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