Virtual power plants

Virtual power plants could help balance supply and demand by coordinating the operations of large numbers of smaller renewable generators, allowing them "to interact with the grid in much the same way as a large conventional power plant." They can operate either on the supply side or the demand size—bringing renewable generating capacity online, or cutting demand by turning off appliances and lighting remotely. A pilot in Australia involving 1,000 social housing properties teamed rooftop solar panels, Tesla Powerwall storage batteries, and VPP software. The project "led to a 20 percent drop in electricity bills for residents, helped stabilize the grid by rapidly charging or discharging batteries when there were disruptions, and preemptively charged batteries from the grid ahead of price spikes." The VPP platform itself provides a new point of programmability for enhancing competition and liquidity or creating incentives to achieve desired policy outcomes.

These developments point towards a more distributed, resilient future grid that has fewer points of failure and a more modular path to expansion.