How Can Virtual Power Plants Benefit the Electric Power Grid?

VPPs-PowerMag.com-Sally Jacquemin
VPPs-PowerMag.com-Sally Jacquemin

PowerMag.com (Sally Jacquemin):
“When DERs and other devices are logically grouped or aggregated, they can form a virtual power plant, or VPP, providing load flexibility for grids that are reaching capacity or economic value with energy market participation, like a traditional power plant.” VPP’s can help prevent current and future plans for adding on new generation plants and can be considered as a method for shrinking future “greenhouse gas emissions.

As power demand increases beyond current power plant capacities and clean energy goals are accelerated, power generation sources of the future will start to look different. In fact, some of these new components—rooftop solar, battery energy storage, electric vehicles and distributed energy resources (DERs)—can already be found in millions of homes.”

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There Remains a Shortage of Semiconductor Chip Professionals in the Workplace

TSMC-chip-plant
TechPowerUp.com

By EETimes.com / DesignLines – Fabricating newer integrated circuits is becoming an increasing challenge especially in light of trying to keep up with the rising demand. “Identifying and securing tradespeople who can handle the intricate needs of chip fab construction is something that needs more attention and thought, Shari Liss, executive director of the SEMI Foundation, a nonprofit arm of SEMI that focuses on workforce development programs.”

A new chip manufacturing facility was being constructed in Arizona where the production start-up processes were delayed by nearly a year where the “Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) had to delay its production start date to sometime in 2025.”

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TVA Sees a New Record Winter Peak Load Demand in Early 2024!

TVA-Winter-Jan-2024
By Tennesseestar.com

By PowerMag.com – On Wednesday, January 17, 2024, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), one of the nation’s largest power generation and transmission utilities in the southeast, reached an all-time record-breaking winter “peak power demand of 34,526 MW,” while the average temperature across the Tennessee valley region (7 state territory) was at “4 degrees F.”

TVA’s previous peak power demand record was set in August 2007 reaching a summer peak power “demand of 33,482 MW.” TVA also set another previous “winter peak power demand record at the end of 2023 (December 23, 2022) during the Winter Storm Elliott with a demand of 33,400 MW,” which spiraled into power generation shortages resulting in a series of rolling blackouts across the region.

With the higher peak power demand forecasted in early 2024, “TVA urged its 10 million customers to be aware of their power consumption” and to cut back on energy usage during the early morning hours. At this time, all of TVA’s generating units were operating adequately while maintaining a stable electric power grid. “TVA had invested $123 million over the past few months” in better preparation for this winter compared to the winter just a year ago.

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Chattanooga’s Electric Power Board (EPB) Is Leading the Charge in Quantum Networking!

EPB-Quantum-Network
From EPB.com/newsroom (EPB-Quantum-Network)

By EPB.com/newsroom – EPB and other partners are collaborating to provide the first quantum technology networking system operating on a commercial platform. EPB is partnering with quantum hardware entities such as Qubitekk and Qunnect to deliver “the nation’s first commercially available quantum network,” known as the “EPB Quantum Network.”

EPB’s Quantum Network will pave the way for better commercialized communications between advanced systems and AI driven technologies, offering more reliable communications, higher transmission rates, better data encryption, and much more…

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