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Germany's largest "power plant"
Statkraft's virtual power plant, now at more than 5,000 MW, has a larger capacity than the largest nuclear and coal power plants in Germany.
A virtual power plant uses the internet to control several smaller power facilities and adjusts the deliveries according to demand.
More than 1,000 small-scale producers are attached to Statkraft’s virtual power plant which is controlled from the company’s office in Düsseldorf. The plants produce electricity from wind, solar, biomass as well as hydropower.
The geographic distribution, and thereby various weather conditions, means that there are always wind or solar energy plants generating energy.
“By using the virtual power plant, Statkraft knows how much power each facility generates at any given time,” says Janosch Abegg, head of Market Access & Integration of Renewables in Statkraft.
“As a result, we can deliver both flexible and demand-based capacity from renewable resources.”
The virtual power plant now comprises about 940 wind farms with a total 4,800 turbines. Almost 100 solar plants and 12 biomass power plants are attached to the virtual power plant.