ABB launches its comprehensive and market-leading portfolio of solutions for virtual power plants for the Japanese market at the Thermal Power Expo in Tokyo, which took place from February 28 to March 2.
Virtual power plants (VPP), also known as virtual power pools, are fast becoming a driving force in the power industry worldwide, due to rising demand for energy, the global turn to renewables and the increasing number of businesses, industries and municipalities generating their own power and trading in electricity markets.
As a result, the need is escalating for virtual power plants that combine multiple, often geographically dispersed generation, energy storage and load units into a single optimized entity that can plan and adjust production dynamically and trade intelligently on the energy market. This is especially the case in Japan, where the government is liberalizing the country's huge electricity sector and where renewable energy generation is growing at a fast pace.
"Our expertise in virtual power plants can help Japan make a strong and successful transition into a deregulated and diverse power market with multiple generators and energy traders," says Kevin Kosisko, managing director of ABB's power generation and water business.
ABB Ability™ for Virtual Power Plants covers a comprehensive range of applications for which ABB has successfully developed and delivered solutions. These include:
Integrating 5,000 generating units into virtual power pools
The ABB solution for the Next Kraftwerke VPP links more than 5,140 producing and consuming units in eight countries in Europe. The network has a production and trading capacity of around 4,000 MW of renewable energy, and has grown seamlessly from a few units in 2009 to one of the largest in Europe, thanks to the solution's scalability.
Balancing municipal energy production
Integration of a hybrid energy system for the German city of Trier. The solution provides intraday optimization for balancing power production in an energy system comprising wind power, solar photovoltaic, biomass, combined heat and power, battery storage, DC charger network for electric vehicles, hydropower and pumped storage, and consumers.
Optimizing an island microgrid
Optimization and simplification of a diesel/wind/solar-powered microgrid for the island of Aruba in the Caribbean. The ABB solution enables the microgrid to use more renewable energy by switching to diesel only when renewable generation is insufficient. It provides day-ahead optimization for the production schedule based on load and weather forecasts, improves grid stability and power quality, and significantly reduces the island's carbon emissions.
Reducing energy costs for industrial sites
ABB has provided VPP solutions for energy-intensive industrial plants, enabling them to significantly decrease energy costs by raising or lowering production rates according to the cost of electricity - without affecting overall production volumes and delivery deadlines.
Operating a multi-unit power plant as a power pool
An ABB solution enables a coal-fired power plant to operate its six 500 MW units as a pool so that the plant can respond efficiently and flexibly to market requirements. The ability to shift from base load and adjust unit production with market needs minimizes fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, maximizing plant profitability.
ABB Energy Industries ABB is writing the future of safe and smart operations for industry, with ABB Ability™ delivering integrated and secure digital solutions that deliver value for customers with increasing autonomy, sustainability and optimized performance. ABB Energy Industries brings deep domain knowledge and technical expertise in energy and water, oil and gas, specialty chemicals and primary pharmaceutical industries. Building on our heritage, a spirit of collaboration and innovation inspires our digital leadership as we engineer and provide products, services and solutions that support our partners for success, both today and tomorrow as we look ahead to a new energy future.
ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a pioneering technology leader with a comprehensive offering for digital industries. With a history of innovation spanning more than 130 years, ABB is today a leader in digital industries with four customer-focused, globally leading businesses: Electrification, Industrial Automation, Motion, and Robotics & Discrete Automation, supported by its common ABB Ability™ digital platform. ABB’s market leading Power Grids business will be divested to Hitachi in 2020. ABB operates in more than 100 countries with about 147,000 employees. www.abb.com
