Get the latest tech news
California Successfully Tests 'Virtual Power Plant', Drawing Power From Batteries in 100,000 Homes
"California's biggest electric utilities pulled off a record-breaking test..." reports Semafor, "during the 7pm-9pm window that is typically its time of peak demand as people come home from work." Pacific Gas & Electric and other top California power companies switched on residential batteries...
The purpose of the test — the largest ever in the state, which has by far the most home battery capacity in the U.S. — was to see just how much power is really there for the utility to tap, and to ensure it could be switched on, effectively running the grid in reverse, without causing a crash. Nationwide, a Department of Energy study during the Biden administration forecast that VPP capacity could reach up to 160 gigawatts by 2030, essentially negating the need for dozens of new fossil fuel power plants, with no emissions and at a far lower cost. Sunrun's distributed battery fleet "delivered more than two-thirds of the energy," notes Electrek, "In total, the event pumped an average of 535 megawatts (MW) onto the grid — enough to power over half of San Francisco...
Or read this on Slashdot
