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Pathways to Commercial Liftoff

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Pathways to Commercial Liftoff

The pathway to:
Virtual Power Plants Commercial Liftoff

With electricity demand growing for the first time in a decade and
fossil assets retiring, deploying 80-160 GW of virtual power plants
(VPPs)--tripling current scale--by 2030 could support rapid
electrification while redirecting grid spending from peaker plants to
participants and reducing overall grid costs. Between 2023 and 2030,
the U.S. will need to add enough new power generation capacity to
supply over 200 GW of peak demand;^1 were the U.S. to follow a path
towards 100% clean electricity by 2035, new capacity needs could
nearly double.^i In all scenarios, the mix of weather-dependent
renewable generation will be unprecedented, leading to more variable
electricity supply and higher demand for transmission capacity.
Transmission interconnection backlogs, which have stretched to an
average of five years, pose potential resource adequacy challenges^
ii. Large-scale deployment of VPPs could help address demand
increases and rising peaks at lower cost than conventional resources,
reducing the energy costs for Americans - one in six of whom are
already behind on electricity bills.
Download the Full Report

The U.S. Department of Energy, in partnership with other federal,
state, and local agencies, has tools to address challenges to
commercial liftoff and is committed to working with communities and
the private sector to build the nation's clean energy infrastructure
in a way that meets the country's climate, economic, and
environmental justice imperatives.

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