Virtual power plant under construction in Blatchford

The Epcor control room connects the grid to the virtual power plant, to be made up of 100 solar-powered homes with batteries in Blatchford, Edmonton. (Credit: Epcor)

Edmonton is home to a new virtual power plant.

The plant is made up of 100 batteries deployed throughout the solar-powered Blatchford, a community planned around net-zero living and reduced environmental footprint in north central Edmonton.

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Epcor senior manager of grid transformation Chris Chapelsky explains that excess energy from solar panels normally flows directly into the power grid during daylight hours. That isn’t the case of the Blatchford homes with batteries.

“What’s unique about this system is the batteries in the home will store the excess energy, and then through the sonnen control system and the virtual power plant, it will put that energy onto the grid when the price is high and when the grid needs it,” he added.

Unlike a central power plant, the batteries will operate as a fleet to provide the community with emergency back-up power, help with overall management of the power grid and make more money on its extra energy.

The project began a year ago. Chapelsky said about 10 per cent of the homes with panels and batteries have been sold, with 100 per cent expected to be built and operational by 2027.

The power plant is being launched by sonnen, a global energy storage company, in collaboration with Landmark Homes, Epcor, Solartility, the University of Alberta and Emissions Reduction Alberta.

Following the prototype project at Blatchford, sonnen plans to launch other virtual power plants throughout Alberta and across Canada over the next three years.