SINGAPORE: A grant to develop Singapore's first virtual power plant (VPP) has been awarded to Nanyang Technological University (NTU), said the Energy Market Authority (EMA) and Sembcorp on Tuesday (Oct 8).



A VPP is a digital platform that coordinates energy resources - such as solar installations and energy storage systems - across different locations in Singapore like a single power station.



"VPPs can bring about many advantages such as flexibility, scalability and improved power grid resilience," said EMA and Sembcorp in the joint media release.



For example, the plant will optimise the power output of distributed energy resources across Singapore by using real-time data.

It can also automatically balance energy fluctuations from solar intermittency at different locations.



EMA and Sembcorp added that the plant would be equipped with demand forecasting and optimisation algorithms that take into account Singapore's power grid and market conditions.



With a distributed architecture, the plant reduces the risks associated with single points of failures.

"This enables any fault on a distributed generation system to be quickly isolated, limiting loss of power to end users," said the release.



It would also contribute to Singapore's efforts in meeting climate change commitments, by allowing for cleaner and more distributed energy resources to be integrated into the energy mix.

EMA's chief executive Mr Ngiam Shih Chun said that with the changing energy landscape, solutions are needed to "support our economic growth while safeguarding our environment".



"This is why solutions such as the virtual power plant are important as it helps us integrate cleaner energy sources into our energy system," he added.

The project will be led by Dr Koh Liang Mong from the Energy Research Institute @ NTU.