LG Electronics USA and Sunverge Energy are teaming up on a residential virtual plant project with customers in Northern and Central California.
The project is expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2022, and is intended to explore ways in which intelligent and dynamic load control and solar/energy storage can be aggregated as dynamic multi-service and multi-asset VPPs. The intent is to create value on both sides of the meter and helping utilities transition to more resilient and flexible distribution grids.
The project is designed to deliver grid and consumer services to 100 homes in Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s service area using LG’s energy storage systems and Sunverge’s distributed energy resource (DER) software. The project is also expected to use energy management circuit breakers from Eaton Corp., enabling the Sunverge platform’s load control capabilities, in addition to energy storage and solar photovoltaic control management and aggregation.
The project is expected to evaluate time of use and real-time pricing signals, load shaping and shifting, and event-based demand response, as well as contingency reserve, frequency regulation, and voltage support ancillary services.
Sitting on top of the LG hardware and the Sunverge DER platform, the LG ThinQ Energy app is expected to provide a means for homeowners to manage their home’s energy profile by enabling them to view and control their home’s solar generation, battery, storage, and load control.