First virtual power plant operated by Siemens
and RWE Energy on line
Erlangen/Dortmund, Germany, October 31, 2008 (News Release)
On October 31, 2008, the first virtual power plant operated by Siemens
Energy and RWE Energy came on line. In a first phase nine hydroelectric
facilities operated by Lister- und Lennekraftwerke in Sauerland, North
Rhine-Westphalia, were integrated in the plant linkup. The capacity of these
distributed generating facilities ranges from 150 kW to 1100 kW. The total
capacity of all the plants amounts to approximately 8600 kW.
With the virtual power plant sales channels can be utilized which would
otherwise not have been available to the operators of the individual
facilities. In the linkup the plants can be operated even more efficiently
and thus more economically than before – thus providing benefits for the
operators of the distributed generating facilities. RWE will also be
marketing the electricity generated on the EEX power exchange.
In the virtual power plant distributed energy management and communication
with the generating facilities play a special role. By deploying existing
products from Siemens Energy’s portfolio such as the distributed energy
management system DEMS and the DER (distributed energy resources) controller
it was possible to realize the virtual power plant in a very short time: The
DEMS is the central feature of the virtual power plant. With this system it
is not only possible to implement an intelligent linkup of the distributed
generating facilities but also to achieve cost-effective, eco-friendly unit
commitment. The DER controller used for communication is specially geared to
meet the requirements of distributed generating facilities.
With this pilot project Siemens and RWE Energy will demonstrate the
technical and economic viability of virtual power plants and accumulate
findings for further possible applications. In the course of the project
further distributed generating facilities such as engine-based cogeneration
plants, biomass and wind power plants are to be integrated into the linkup.
In addition to economic benefits the aim of the coordinated utilization of
distributed generating facilities is above all to make a contribution toward
the improved market integration of these facilities.
The Siemens Energy Sector is the world’s leading supplier of a complete
spectrum of products, services and solutions for the generation,
transmission and distribution of power and for the extraction, conversion
and transport of oil and gas. In fiscal 2007 (ended September 30), the
Energy Sector had revenues of approximately EUR20.3 billion and received new
orders totaling around EUR28.5 billion and posted a profit of EUR1.8
billion. The Energy Sector had a work force of 73,500 at the beginning of
fiscal 2008.
RWE Energy is the RWE Group’s sales and grid company for Continental Europe.
In a total of 12 regions, including six abroad, RWE Energy offers
electricity, gas, water and related services from a one-stop shop. Customers
include residential households, commercial operations, business and
industrial customers as well as municipal and regional utilities.
Supraregional electricity and gas grid operations as well as the storage of
gas are handled by independent companies. Together with its subsidiaries and
affiliates, RWE Energy supplies 15.5 million customers with electricity and
7.6 million customers with gas. In 2007, sales totalled 168.3 billion
kilowatt-hours of electricity and 258.0 billion kilowatt-hours of gas. With
its 28,323 employees, RWE Energy generated total revenues of € 28.5 billion
in 2007, which makes it one of the leading utility companies in Europe.
www.rwe.com/rweenergy
For more information about Siemens Energy Sector go to
http://www.siemens.com/energy
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