Origin’s virtual power plant now as big as a coal power station
This article was originally published by the Financial Review on 15th August 2024.Origin Energy has claimed bragging rights over rival AGL for the largest virtual power plant in Australia – and perhaps the world – as it outlines the strategies it is deploying to manage the rising shares of intermittent wind and solar energy in the grid.
Virtual power plants are aggregations of customer-owned energy resources such as solar panels, home batteries, electric vehicle chargers, air conditioners and other sources of heavy demand that can be commandeered by a retailer with the customer’s consent during grid squeezes to avert blackouts and moderate prices.
