Virtual Power Plant technology recommended for Viet Nam

23 September 2021
GIZ recommended that the very first testing of VPP should be shortly organised in Viet Nam.

The very first testing of Virtual Power Plant (VPP) should be shortly organised with appropriate scale and amount of time in Viet Nam, so power system and market operators, as well as the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam (ERAV) have a basis for considering and issuing legal and technical regulations. The VPP can be then put into operation to support the integration of renewable energy resources into the country’s power grid.

The proposals were put forward at the workshop ‘Development of Virtual Power Plant technology in Viet Nam’, which was virtually organised by GIZ and the ERAV of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) on 23 September 2021. Nearly 200 participants joined the event.

The VPP is one of the smart grid technologies that has been emerging as an effective tool for aggregators to digitally bundle variable renewable energy (vRE) plants to a single portfolio and trade their output. Some developed countries have utilised this technology and successfully integrated renewable energy into their power grids but Viet Nam has not had any experience.

At the event, a group of GIZ-coordinated international and national consultants shared their research results, including main features of the VPP; vRE control solutions and their application in Viet Nam; proposals for the application of the VPP model in the nation. They suggested that the testing phase should be considered as an ideal starting point to evaluate the technical performance, assess different applications, produce key learnings and stimulate innovation and technology transfer.

The event was part of the ‘Smart Grids for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency’ (SGREEE) project, which is jointly implemented by GIZ and the ERAV/MOIT. The project is financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

For more information about SGREEE project, please see here.

For further information, please contact Mr. Markus Bissel – SGREE’s Project Director.