Overview
- Google has partnered with Voltus to deploy a gigawatt-scale virtual power plant on the PJM grid.
- The VPP pools many small, automated demand reductions from businesses and homes so the combined response can be dispatched like a power plant.
- Operators used the VPP during a recent PJM emergency to cut demand when hot weather and offline generators created a capacity shortfall.
- Voltus is expanding quickly through fresh funding, its acquisition of Brightfield, and partnerships with firms such as SunRun and Octopus as it pursues a 20 GW target by 2030.
- A Department of Energy analysis estimates VPPs could meet 10–20% of peak demand and save roughly $10 billion a year, which could lower bills for customers and reduce pressure to build new generation.