State Grid Ningdong Electric Power Supply Company Accelerates Virtual Power Plant Development with Multifaceted Approach

On 25th November, Yanchi Liyuan Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding adjustable resources with State Grid Ningdong Electric Power Supply Company. This collaborative effort, along with previous agreements secured with companies such as Wuheng Chemical and Fuliang New Energy, has led to a total of 56 power consumers spanning ten diverse sectors integrating into the Ningdong “Virtual Power Plant” resource pool. This integration provides vital adjustable load support as the region gears up for the peak winter demand.

The virtual power plant operates as a digital energy management system, effectively consolidating and optimizing distributed resources, including charging stations, air conditioning units, and energy storage systems. This is achieved through an ‘aggregation and communication’ approach. This unique “power plant” model actively participates in grid operations and the electricity market.

This year, State Grid Ningdong Electric Power Supply Company has significantly emphasized developing its virtual power plant infrastructure. Detailed guidelines have been crafted for the plant’s operations, supplemented by comprehensive training and advocacy organized for all marketing personnel to sharpen their policy expertise. Predictive assessments of consumer electricity consumption patterns, load profiles, and characteristic curves have been conducted to ascertain adjustable capacities. Emergency drills for summer peak demand were staged, simulating various scenarios to engage users in demand response and ancillary services, ensuring the practical use and effectiveness of adjustable capacities. The company has proactively visited key customers within its jurisdiction to elucidate virtual power plant policies and facilitate their integration into the platform. Moreover, they have conducted exchange visits to peer companies to acquire insights and share experiences in virtual power plant operations, thereby advancing their load management capabilities.

Moving forward, State Grid Ningdong Electric Power Supply Company plans to integrate these strategies into their winter peak demand management efforts, intensifying load management by thoroughly exploring, aggregating, and activating adjustable resources on both supply and demand sides. The aim is to motivate users with load regulation capabilities to enter demand response and ancillary services markets, thus enhancing the flexibility of the power system. This initiative is expected to ease local electricity supply pressures and ensure a secure and reliable power supply. (By Liu Guobao)