A virtual power plant was built in Japan by no other than Tesla.
The company revealed that it has put up a new virtual power plant using Powerwall home battery pack. The virtual power plant is located in the island of Miyako-jima, Japan.
According to Gizmodo, the households on the island of Miyako-jima have created a virtual power plant using Tesla's Powerwall batteries. The virtual power plant can "send excess power to the electric grid in their area."
Tesla Installed More Than 300 Powerwall Units Across Miyako-jima
Tesla has been trying to build the largest virtual power plants in the country over the past year, said a statement released by the company on Friday. Lately, Tesla was seen to put a lot of effort into virtual power plants.
Currently, there are more than 300 Powerwall units installed across Miyako-jima, a populated island in Okinawa, as per Electrek.
A virtual power plant is comprised of distributed energy storage systems. During times of need, the energy can feed into an electric grid.
The homes use solar panels or batteries. These homes can install a battery pack, such as Tesla's Powerwall, in order to store additional power.
During emergency events such as blackouts, the extra stored power can then be sent to the electric grid. This is an alternative solution to simply relying on gas-powered power plants.
Earlier this year, Tesla launched a virtual power plant in California. During its first emergency event that happened earlier this month, great results were observed.
At a time of high electricity demand this summer, around 2,500 consumers worked together and delivered up to 16.5 megawatts of solar power to California's grid.
Seeing the success of the virtual power plant, the company now wants to put up a virtual power plant in Texas. This is in addition to the one that is already operating for years in Australia.
It is just lately that Tesla unveiled its virtual power plant in Japan. The company decided to quietly build it.
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Miyako-jima VPP Project Aims to Prevent Power Outages in Homes
The project, which is located on the island of Miyako-jima, is called "Miyakojima VPP." Miyako-jima is the most populous island in the Okinawa Prefecture.
According to Electrek, Tesla made an announcement that it began to install Powerwall units in partnership with the local electric utility in 2021.
According to Tesla's announcement: "the virtual power plant (VPP) project using Tesla home storage battery Powerwall started in 2021, and the number of units installed on the island has exceeded 300."
The announcement further said that Miyakojima VPP is the first commercial use of Powerwall for a VPP project in Japan. The project is the largest commercial VPP that uses household storage batteries in the country.
According to Gizmodo, the units are installed for free for the users who choose to participate in the project. For every kilowatt per hour contributed to the grid during emergencies, the users get compensated by $2.
Tesla said that in Japan, the virtual power plant will be utilized towards "the stabilization of Miyako Island's grid power supply."
Moreover, if there will be a power outage due to a typhoon or any other disaster, the Powerwall will supply power to the installed home. This would prevent power outages in the home.
By the end of 2022, Tesla is aiming to install 400 Powerwall and 600 units by the end of 2023.
Related Article: Tesla Debuts Virtual Power Plant That Pays Powerwall Users in California - Here's How it Works
