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.”

READ More @ PowerMag.com (Sally Jacquemin)…

Is There Disorder Coming to the U.S. Energy Industry?

Chevron (Utility Dive-Ethan Howland)
Chevron (Utility Dive-Ethan Howland)

UtilityDive.com (Ethan Howland): On June 28, Chevron received an unfavorable ruling by the US Supreme Court, which “creates legal and regulatory uncertainty for regulated utilities.” This presents disorder within the energy industry due to “the lack of clarity on future EPA mandates.”

“Planning for generation needs will be more challenging for regulated utilities and other power companies, due to the uncertainty of not knowing which cost-effective generation mix to supply.” This will force power providers to add more costly green power to the mix.

READ More @ UtilityDive.com (Ethan Howland)…

XCEL Energy Is Saying “No More” to Fossil Fuel Generation by 2030!

XCEL-Energy-Coal-Pwr-Reduction
UtilityDive.com / Wikimedia

By UtilityDive.com – Will the power utility, XCEL Energy, have enough power generation capacity by 2030 in time to abolish all of its coal-fired generating plants? Energy regulators are very doubtful that XCEL Energy can achieve this vigorous goal in replenishing enough clean power to offset their reduction in carbon emissions. The fear is: will XCEL approach a power generation shortfall over the next decade to its electric load demand?

“The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission on Jan. 4 asked Xcel Energy to reconsider shuttering its Sherco and King coal-fired power plants, writing that their premature closure adds to the uncertainty of electric generation resource adequacy in the upper Midwest.”

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American Electric Power (AEP) Announces Recent Layoffs

AEP-Power
AEP.com / cleanfuture.co.in

By Msn.com / Columbus Dispatch – AEP just announced that it will cutting back on staff which is nearly 2-percent of its workforce and spread-out over multiple states “from Michigan to Texas (AEP’s 11-state region).” The utility “is laying off 270 workers including 170 in Ohio affecting various operations.” The staff reductions will be implemented next month.

AEP stated that the “staff reduction is necessary as we look at the roles needed to best meet the expectations of our customers in the face of higher costs of providing reliable service.”

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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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TVA Will Improve Its Power Grid By $15 Billion Over Next 3-Years

TVA-Power-Grid

TVA’s load growth demand forecasted is expecting over a 30% increase in power demand within the next decade. Like other utilities trending away from fossil fuel power generation due to stringent carbon emission regulations, TVA is retiring their coal-powered plants and replacing with cleaner energy generation and renewable resources.

The trend of moving away from older fossil fuel technology to cleaner generation systems is very costly. TVA recognizes this and has approved moving forward with capital expenditures of $15 billion that it will invest over the next 3 years by performing system reliability upgrades and transition into cleaner energy supply.

(Continue Reading at TVA.com…)