VIRTUAL POWER PLANT SOLUTION FOR KENYA RURAL ENERGY NEEDS

Abstract

A Virtual Power Plant system is an advanced power distributing and trading platform, that acts as a smart grid system unlike the existing conventional methodology of power allocation. The system is known to facilitate the connection of renewable energy sources to the national grid from a specific region, it is made up of Energy Storage System, Distributable Energy Resources, and Control System. Energy sources are classified as Distributable Energy Resources and various assets can be linked to the platform such as small-scale microgrids or community-based power platforms with demand-side management portfolios. A Virtual Power Plant platform has the power-distributing capability and an evolutionary trading platform (Peer to Peer trading). It has also proven to cut down carbon emissions as more renewables find their way to the grid. Additionally, data analytics and forecasting tools on the Virtual Power Plant are used to give information to the end-users on their storage, demand, and expected future generation, the user can interact with the system through a Human Machine Interface that has easy to use dashboard. Currently, the VPP systems have been implemented as pilot programs in countries such as Sweden, Norway, Belgium, and the USA. The potential application of the system can be extended as a case study and futuristic smart grid system for Kenya, as the National grid is substantially fed from renewable energy sources, and the vast majority of rural areas can benefit from cheap and affordable energy. Finally, Virtual Power Plants are proven to be reliable systems, and power outages and delays can be minimized.