Enphase Energy is to expand its support for virtual power plants (VPPs) in Colorado, Puerto Rico and Nova Scotia.
Enphase said program participants may receive a discount on the purchase of an Enphase Energy System with its IQ Batteries, or incentives may include ongoing payments to participating homeowners.
VPPs are aggregations of small-scale distributed energy resources, such as rooftop solar with behind-the-meter batteries, energy storage and EV chargers. VPPs can balance electricity demand, and supply-and-demand utility-scale and utility-grade grid services. VPP technology has shown immediate promise in replacing natural gas “peaker plants” on grids, offering additional capacity during times of peak electricity demand.
The performance incentive rates are locked in until each program’s funding runs out. Enphase previously closed its incentive programs in Arizona and Hawaii.
LUMA Energy Puerto Rico Customer Battery Energy Sharing Program
Puerto Rican residents enrolled in this program with three IQ Battery 5Ps receive $1.00 for every kilowatt-hour (kWh) of power delivered during LUMA Energy’s battery demand response events.
This program provides its participants quarterly performance incentives directly from Virtual Peaker, Enphase’s aggregator for the program, which are based on the total energy the participant delivers during LUMA Energy’s demand response events each quarter. The performance incentive rates are locked in place until the program funding runs out.
According to Enphase, participants should receive between 75 and 100 demand response events a year, which should average about two hours each.