Dutch supplier Eneco kicks off Myriad virtual power plant

Dutch gas, electricity and heat supplier Eneco is going to link all its wind farms, solar parks, batteries and other smaller and larger assets to the Myriad Virtual Power Plant (VPP) platform that it has developed.

According to the supplier, there are currently no similar VPPs of this scale in operation in the Netherlands.

In the VPP Myriad, Eneco will virtually combine every small and large asset, allowing the supplier to control and optimise these assets from a central point via smart software.

Myriad’s ability to switch assets on or off within a few seconds, and thus offer flexibility to keep the Dutch electricity grid in balance, makes it easier to cope with situations when too little or too much sustainable electricity is being produced.

At times when a lot of sustainable electricity is being generated by solar panels and wind turbines, the VPP can switch on charging stations to charge connected cars or heat up electric boilers, for example.

This way, the capacity of the electricity grid is used as efficiently as possible.

It also works the other way around: Myriad will, for example, be able to feed the electricity in the batteries of electric cars back into the grid when there is a power shortage on the grid. This will only happen if a customer has given permission, iterates Eneco.

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According to Eneco, thousands of local sustainable assets can be connected within Myriad, ranging from wind and solar farms to batteries and electric boilers.

The Netherlands has been experiencing recurring bottlenecks on its grid in various parts of the country and has been seeking flexible solutions as more renewable power sources come online.

The VPP is hoped to help reduce unnecessary fossil energy consumption when the supply of sustainable energy is low or to reduce the load on the electricity grid when the supply is high.

Eneco also cites how, by being connected to the VPP, companies and households would help to make the energy system more sustainable while simultaneously generating income. This is particularly the case for the use of vehicle-to-grid technology and batteries because these make it possible for a VPP to store sustainably generated electricity and use it for consumption at a later time.

Companies, households and owners of electric cars will receive compensation for the electricity supplied.