Sembcorp and EMA award university grant to develop Singapore's first virtual power plant

It will act as a single utility-scale power station.

Semcorp Industries and the Energy Market Authority (EMA) has jointly awarded a grant to Nanyang Technological University to develop Singapore’s first virtual power plant (VPP), an announcement revealed.

A VPP will coordinate and optimise the power output of distributed energy resources (DERs) such as solar and energy storage systems, acting as a single utility-scale power station, Sembcorp explained in an SGX filing.

It will also be equipped with demand forecasting and optimisation algorithms, which will be able to take into account the island’s power grid and market conditions. For example, energy fluctuations due to solar intermittency at different locations could be balanced automatically via the VPP.

Sembcorp added that the VPP will enable faults in the system to be quickly isolated and limit loss of power to end users. A VPP operator could monitor and control the various DER locations, while ensuring a balance between supply and demand.

The release also stated that the VPP will “contribute towards Singapore’s efforts to meet its climate change commitments.”