Virtual Power Plant (VPP) pilot program

The VPP pilot program has helped Victorian households create and share power, save money on energy bills and reduce reliance on the grid.

The program is now in a research phase to understand key learnings from the pilot.

Introduction

The Solar Victoria Virtual Power Plant (VPP) pilot program is an initiative designed to connect Victorian households and reduce their energy costs by making the most of renewable energy from solar panels and batteries.

About the program

In a first for Victoria, Solar Victoria offered solar battery rebate customers an opportunity to take part in a VPP. Households share their stored clean energy with a network, enabling more people to benefit from the renewables revolution.

These networks offered individual deals with a range of benefits and program structures, that enabled households to maximise the use of their clean energy generated through rooftop solar.

This puts participating households firmly in the driver’s seat in managing their power, with reduced energy bills, payments for sharing stored energy, and increased grid resilience. As an extension of the existing Solar Homes Program, the VPP Pilot carried all the safety and consumer protections of the established programs.

Five program providers, each offering a different VPP network, were selected through a robust expression of interest process to provide services as part of Solar Victoria’s 2022 VPP pilot.

They included:

  • Qcells – Arcstream 100% Green
  • Reposit – No Bill
  • Sonnen – SonnenConnect
  • Mondo – EDGE
  • Tesla – Tesla Energy Plan

These approved VPP providers were evaluated on their ability to deliver a successful program, increase energy affordability for participating households and focus on strong consumer protections.

Consumer protections included guaranteed benefits for households and safeguards against misleading sales pitches and contracts and the misuse of data collected. Participants also had a minimum ten-day cooling off period and clearly defined exit fees should they opt to leave the program early.

FAQs

Updated

Stay informed

Sign up to our householder newsletter and get the latest renewable energy news, insights and energy-saving tips delivered to your inbox once a month.