India has been stepping towards energy efficiency with increased dependency on renewable energy sources. Our society has also been gradually affected by these efforts, and have become more aware of environmental protection. To achieve the goal of benefiting the environment, a target of 175 GW capacity of renewable energy by 2022 has also been set. The obvious answer to the question of achieving that goal has been hailed to be the newest technology in India’s energy arsenal. Virtual Power Plant, which is a cloud-based virtual system assisted by Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things, will bring together the management of various energy resource types.
Energy will be gathered from solar plants, battery storage systems, wind turbines and others. Virtual Power Plants will manage all of these together from one central point using demand and response management centers and smart meters. A system like VPP will help manage power generation as well as the sale and purchase of electricity in the market. Compared to a traditional energy plant, a VPP can also perform energy management functions.
The main control system is supported by AI modules and IoT devices. These technologies work in tandem to help the system take care of itself while creating energy grids without necessarily needing any inputs. This system can handle billions of people autonomously within utility networks and mini-grids as well. To obtain useful information regarding the market, the central database is always connected to the electricity market. As a result, the Virtual Power Plant can negotiate with retailers and aggregators to efficiently handle energy sales with others.
With solar cells installed on the rooftops of buildings and offices, India is already heading towards decentralised power generation. VPPs can utilise this setup to enable efficient energy generation. We have also stepped towards a greener India with many favourable government policies. With the adoption of electric vehicles (EV), there will be an eventual need to expand the infrastructure of EV charging facilities. Implementing VPP can effectively help manage battery charging stations all over India without encountering any power supply issues.
With access to technology like VPP, India can make generation and usage of energy-efficient. As such, the technology will be responsible for higher export with higher efficiency. As such, Virtual Power Plants are in line with India’s vision. Due to favourable government policies, and existing initiatives, we believe that the adoption process of Virtual Power Plants will be smooth, as well as, show the path to a sustainable and greener India