China takes the lead in establishing international standards for virtual power plants to install "shock absorbers" for the power grid

China News Service, Beijing, November 13 (Reporter Liu Liang) China’s State Administration for Market Regulation announced on the 13th that the China-led international standard proposal for primary frequency modulation of virtual power plants was successfully approved by the International Electrotechnical Commission. This international standard focuses on the core capabilities of virtual power plants to quickly stabilize the power grid, and unites experts from many countries to formulate globally unified technical guidelines, marking a key step for China in the field of international standardization of virtual power plants.

A virtual power plant is not a physical power plant. Instead, it relies on digital technology to aggregate dispersed equipment such as rooftop photovoltaics, energy storage batteries, charging piles, and adjustable air conditioners for unified dispatching and coordinated operation. Although the virtual power plant has no factory buildings and units, it can form considerable adjustment capabilities and provide auxiliary services such as peak regulation and frequency regulation for the power grid. The key to the safe and stable operation of the power grid lies in the real-time balance between power generation and power consumption. Wind power and photovoltaic output are volatile and intermittent. Once power generation and consumption are unbalanced, the frequency of the grid will shift, which will affect the power quality at least, and threaten the security of the grid at worst.

Primary frequency regulation refers to the ability of the power grid to quickly adjust power generation output and reduce frequency deviation in just a few seconds. It is a rapid adjustment method for the power grid to maintain frequency stability. In the past, grid frequency regulation mainly relied on traditional thermal power plants. At this stage, photovoltaics, energy storage, and electric vehicles are developing rapidly. They are large in number but small in individual capacity. Only by aggregating them through virtual power plants can they become valuable resources for frequency regulation. It is like installing a "shock absorber" on the power grid to "suppress" the fluctuations, which not only ensures the security of power supply, but also can consume more green electricity. At present, the world still lacks unified technical standards for virtual power plants to participate in primary frequency regulation, which restricts the promotion and application of this new technology around the world.

This project is aimed at solving this problem. Relying on the successful experience of Qingdao's virtual power plant construction to support the access and consumption of massive distributed power sources, it provides a "Chinese solution" for countries around the world to implement virtual power plants to participate in primary frequency regulation. In the future, countries can refer to this set of standards when building virtual power plants and testing equipment performance.