The concept of a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) is not new. Historically, it referred to power generation facilities that, while consisting of multiple production units, could be valued as a single, cohesive entity. However, the idea of VPPs has gained renewed importance due to the rise of distributed energy resources, both in production and storage. These resources include renewable energy generation, contributions from prosumer communities, and investments by commercial and industrial companies in solar power and energy storage systems aiming to reduce energy costs. The key distinction between a VPP and a simple network of distributed resources lies in the VPP’s active participation in energy markets. The VPP value chain starts with the aggregation of assets—production, consumption, and storage—and extends to the trading of the aggregated power on energy markets and then loops back to the dispatch of resources in alignment with the traded power. This broad definition of assets and targeted market realization positions VPPs as a critical tool for modernizing energy systems and accelerating the transition to net zero. ComTech’s VPP study had two primary objectives: first, to analyze the types of companies operating across the VPP value chain and the software solutions they require; second, to identify… continue reading