According to Siemens Energy, these distributed generating plants have capacities between 150kW and 1,100kW. The total output of these plants amounts to around 8,600kW.
The virtual power plant can use marketing channels that the operators of the individual plants would otherwise not be able to access. As a group, the plants can be operated efficiently and economically than before, which benefits the operators of the distributed generating plants. RWE will also market the electricity on the European Energy Exchange (EEX), said the company.
Decentralized energy management and communication with the generating plants plays a key role in the virtual power plant, which was realized by making use of existing products from the Siemens Energy portfolio. These include the decentralized energy management system, DEMS, and the DER Controller (distributed energy resources).
Siemens and RWE Energy plan to use this pilot project to prove the technical maturity and financial viability of virtual power plants and acquire know-how for future potential operations. Further distributed generating plants, such as block-central cogeneration stations, biomass or wind energy plants are planned for incorporation into the network during the course of the project.
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