Building a Distributed Energy Technology Ecosystem

One of the first reports I published when I joined Delta-EE in 2021 aimed to answer the question "What is a Virtual Power Plant?" At the time, you could ask 6 people what they meant by Virtual Power Plant (VPP) and get 7 definitions. People were using VPP to describe everything from aggregation alone to the full stack required to monetise distributed energy resources (DERs), and everything in between. It was impossible to compare one VPP company to another. We needed a way to talk about VPPs as a commercial service, not just a vague concept. While working on local market platforms for DERs at Electron, I'd been thinking about the steps from customer to cash, and the framework I called the VPP Value Chain was born: 1️⃣ Customer Acquisition - often forgotten by many tech-led platforms   2️⃣ Asset Connection & Control - though gateways and APIs 3️⃣ Aggregation - by asset, brand, or home 4️⃣ Optimisation - deciding which markets deliver most value 5️⃣ Market Interface - robust market communications for bidding and dispatch 6️⃣ Settlement & Billing - managing the money flow back to the customer Fast forward to today, and I am now seeing the framework used by the biggest names in the energy transition to map their ecosystems and analyse commercial strategies: • gridX uses it to define the modularity of their XENON platform. • EDF Pulse has adopted it to clarify the complex journey of residential flexibility. • SET Ventures use it to classify 70 energy-tech innovators. Have you seen it anywhere else? Even 70 companies is barely scratching the surface. I can see over 1,000 companies in Europe delivering at least one element of this value chain for DERs. More companies are specialising in one or two elements, and partnering with others to complete the value chain. I still see many of these companies involved in the value chain proudly announcing that they will revolutionise the energy industry. I hate to rain on their parade, but the revolution has already started. But the industry doesn't stay still for long. With announcements like the recent investments in Fuse Energy and tem, or PowerHive's partnership with Distro Energy, are matching platforms coming back into play? Five years on, how do you see the value chain evolving?

Last week I met with Al Gore and 13 solar CEOs from around the world to discuss what it's going to take to ensure the next decade of #solar growth - the most critical technology to solve climate. With COP this week and all the politics ringing in our ears, what - on the ground in the real world - are the big 3 policies needed? 1) Embrace open pricing - remove tariffs on clean tech (diversify supply of course but don’t tax clean energy) 2) Cut red tape - automate and digitise permitting and interconnection to the grid 3) Enact grid market design - to make the grid work for 100% electrification at lowest cost I’ve been heavily involved in the permitting side in the US with SolarAPP+ for years - and now I’ve really dug into no.3, the grid. I’ve come to realise we need a big new governing vision that enables the coming complex, distributed, bi-directional electric grid. We need an Electric Protocol. A set of rules to unleash the power of distributed energy on the world wide grid - akin to Internet Protocol, which unleashed the power of distributed information on the world wide web. What should those rules be? I’m delighted to be collaborating with grid and battery expert Prof Andrew Crossland PhD and to release our white paper today. The Electric Protocol is a set of uniform rules governing the grid, that provide for all power plants, regardless of size: a) transparency and open, easy access to the grid and b) uniform market-based compensation for energy and grid service value delivered. I urge you to take a look, comment & share with your network. I think this is the answer to net metering issues in the states, to creating the most efficient grid system for mass solar adoption, the protocol that emerging markets can leap straight to. But I’m keen to hear your views. Pop your questions below. This paper is to begin a consultative process. We've begun working with industry peers to try and shape this vision into an industry wide push for a fair and open and efficient gird, powered by the lowest cost energy - which is in most cases is consumer sited solar and storage. Read the full whitepaper here: https://bit.ly/3YMnOL4 #solarenergy #cleanenergy #electricprotocol Danny Kennedy, Alec Guettel, Liz Cammack, Mary Powell, Billy Parish, Sonia Dunlop, Chris Hewett, Bernadette Del Chiaro, Mark Twidell, Howard Wenger, Yann Brandt, NICO JOHNSON 🎙️, Grant McDowell

Imagine how #technology available today can #transform your city into a #climate #smart city: 1) In emergency situations, instead of a red alert for rain, you get a personalized message to plan for 2 ft of water logging outside your building that can potentially damage your parked car (to avoid the situation, your municipal corporation can take pre-emptive infra action with accurate urban flooding simulations). 2) Basic camera feeds with visual #AI make urban systems more efficient and identify predictive maintenance needs of the city, for example, they detect signs of pothole formation on the roads or oil leakage in an electricity transformers and action is taken before the issues result in extra cost and inconvenience. 3) Traffic light timings are automatically calibrated based on real time information of how much traffic is coming from which direction (we all think about this everytime we are standing at a traffic light with no traffic). 4) You can plan a journey that includes taking an auto for the first mile, a metro in between and then a cab for the last mile, all synchronized to minimize waiting time - with a single app and a single payment - enabled by a standard for data sharing between operators. 5) A Unified Energy Interface (UEI, like UPI) creates a distributed energy trading ecosystem where your house can automatically buy and sell power from your neighbors or the utility based on your rooftop solar generation, battery and EV charging status, enabling distributed battery aggregation and reducing the need for expensive power distribution system upgrades. This and much more is possible today but requires multi-stakeholder collaboration and, of course, social and political capital. At the World Economic Forum's Center for Fourth Industrial Revolution in India, we have created standing a community of policy makers, business leaders, innovators, academia and startups that forward looking cities can leverage if they want to undertake a technology-led, climate-smart urban transformation. The first community meeting last week brought together the leaders and experts who will drive this agenda.

India's transition to electric mobility is gaining strong traction, powered by 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲-𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 that are increasingly aligned with on-ground realities of adoption and infrastructure. Maharashtra’s ₹1,993 crore EV policy includes 𝘃𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗩-𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗼𝗿𝘀. Kerala has introduced 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿-𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝗩 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗳𝘀, offering up to 30% discounts for daytime charging. These moves reflect a growing realization: EV adoption isn’t just about electrifying vehicles—it’s about building a reliable, integrated ecosystem. Yet, to convert this momentum into scalable outcomes, several foundational gaps must be addressed: 𝟭. 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 Incentives may boost demand, but a dense, dependable charging network is vital. Without adequate infrastructure—especially beyond metros—adoption risks stalling due to range anxiety and poor service experiences. 𝟮. 𝗚𝗿𝗶𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Rising EV adoption will strain state grids. Proactive load management, energy storage, and smart demand systems are critical. Kerala’s solar-aligned tariff model is a step forward—but broader coordination across utilities is essential. 𝟯. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘀 Fragmented user experiences—due to non-standard connectors, payment systems, or roaming limitations—can slow growth. A unified national framework for interoperability is key to building a seamless EV ecosystem. 𝟰. 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺-𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Policies alone won’t guarantee success. Collaboration between OEMs, infra providers, DISCOMs, and digital platforms is essential. Beyond incentives, states must enable the creation of scalable, dependable value chains. The Way Forward India has the ambition, policies, and innovation. The next phase must move beyond incentives to infrastructure-backed maturity—shifting the focus from short-term metrics to long-term system readiness. The real success of India’s EV journey won’t be measured just by vehicles sold—but by how well energy, mobility, and digital systems are orchestrated. From incentives to infrastructure. From pilots to platforms. From adoption to acceleration. #EVIndia #SmartMobility #SustainableTransport #EVPolicy #EnergyTransition #India2030

🌍 Advancing Photovoltaic Energy Distribution in Buildings: The PEDF System By Jianhai Yan Photovoltaic (PV) power generation is becoming a key solution for sustainable energy in buildings, offering self-sufficiency and reducing grid dependence. However, traditional AC systems face challenges with power quality—like harmonics and voltage imbalances—as distributed PVs scale up. The Photovoltaic Energy Distribution Framework (PEDF) system offers a revolutionary solution, enhancing energy efficiency while addressing these power quality issues. What Sets PEDF Apart? The PEDF system uses a DC-based design, connecting distributed power sources and loads via direct current rather than alternating current. This approach provides several key benefits: • ⚡ Reduced Power Quality Issues: Addresses low-voltage grid instability caused by high penetration of distributed PVs. • ✅ Improved Efficiency: “Self-generation and self-use” maximizes energy efficiency through centralized grid connection. Key Research Areas in PEDF Development Our research focuses on four main areas that ensure the PEDF system is scalable, safe, and efficient: 1. 🔌 Source Load Characteristics & Control Strategy We analyze key equipment such as power supplies, converters, energy storage, and DC loads. By studying building electricity consumption, we develop control strategies like: • Layered Control Strategy • Voltage Band Control Strategy These strategies balance energy production and consumption for stable operation. 2. 🛡️ System Protection & Power Safety Effective protection is critical in DC systems. Our research includes: • ⚠️ Fault Detection Mechanisms for converter and cable faults. • 🚨 Protection Strategies like DC arc extinguishing and insulation detection to ensure fast fault clearance. These protections ensure safe, reliable DC systems for buildings. 3. 🔧 Selection & Development of Key Equipment Key to the PEDF system’s success is the development of specialized equipment: • 🔌 Power Electronic Devices: Flexible converters, rectifiers, DC/DC converters. • 🛠️ Protection and Control Devices: Busbar protection, integrated AC/DC line protection. • 📊 Monitoring Platforms: Real-time system monitoring. We are also developing retrofit solutions for existing buildings to enhance energy efficiency. 4. 🏢 Scenario-Specific Design Solutions Every building requires unique energy distribution. We create tailored solutions for: • 🏢 Commercial Buildings • 🏠 Residential Buildings • 🏭 Industrial Buildings We design based on voltage levels, grounding methods, and operation modes, ensuring each solution meets the building’s energy needs.

As the grid grows faster than ever to support economic development and system reliability, we’re going to need a heck of a lot of both microgrids and distributed capacity procurement — here’s how they’re different. Microgrids are optimized to support the resilience and reliability of a specific customer site, like a college campus, industrial site, remote community, etc. A microgrid allows these sites to disconnect from the power grid and operate independently, which is important for critical operations (think military bases and hospitals) and regions prone to grid outages and extreme weather (for example, Puerto Rico). The Distributed Capacity Procurement model, on the other hand, is optimized to support the grid as a whole (the “macro-grid”?) — and all ratepayers — with utilities planning and deploying distributed energy resources to increase the grid’s hosting capacity and reliability. Instead of customized, site-specific microgrid designs, the DCP model supports utility-led DER bulk procurement in tranches of 10 to 50 MW with standardized project designs that comply with utility requirements. Average project sizes would likely be “medium format” batteries, between, say, 250 kWh and 4 MWh, hosted primarily on C&I and MUSH customer locations, but connected to the grid front of the meter (FTM) and operated for grid benefit. These systems are simpler and cheaper than microgrids because they don’t require all the sophisticated controls necessary to operate the microgrid separately. That makes them easier, faster and cheaper to install. In fact, we’re seeing prices for this size range of batteries start to approach utility scale installed cost, lowering the tradeoff on price while keeping the benefit of the medium-sized batteries, which are faster to permit and interconnect. The customer who hosts the asset is paid a monthly hosting payment simply for having the asset on their premises. No debt, no risk, the utility maintains the assets over their lifetime. These utility projects can be deployed at a range of locations along a feeder or transmission corridor — targeted where the grid needs them most. In other words, DCP is designed for speed, scale and to maximize the value to the grid. 🏝️Microgrids = Greater, critical resilience for a specific site 🌐DCP = Greater reliability and hosting capacity for the grid as a whole #Microgrids #DistributedEnergy #DERs #Utilities

🚀 New Blog Alert! 🚀 I'm thrilled to share our latest publication on building scalable Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems (DERMS) for DER aggregators on AWS. As the energy landscape evolves toward a more distributed model, aggregators face increasingly complex challenges in managing thousands of distributed energy assets—from residential solar installations and industrial battery storage to widespread electric vehicle charging networks. The challenge extends beyond asset management to optimizing market participation across various energy markets while ensuring regulatory compliance and maintaining high levels of service reliability. Our (Fabio Bottoni, Bin Qiu and myself) new blog explores how AWS services provide a comprehensive solution to address these challenges through a cloud-native DERMS architecture. The solution enables near real-time visibility and control of heterogeneous DER assets, integration of multiple communication protocols including Modbus, DNP3, and IEEE 2030.5, dynamic optimization across distribution constraints, and seamless scaling from hundreds to millions of connected devices. Key capabilities covered in the blog include edge computing with AWS IoT Greengrass for protocol translation, robust data streaming and analytics for handling diverse timing requirements from sub-second grid services to long-term planning, dual-storage architecture optimizing both real-time operations and historical analysis, advanced AI/ML capabilities for load forecasting and equipment health monitoring, and enterprise-grade security designed for critical infrastructure compliance with standards like NERC CIP and IEC 62351. The modular architecture allows aggregators to start with basic functionality and incrementally add capabilities as their business grows, whether implementing a custom solution or integrating third-party DERMS software. As regulatory frameworks like FERC Order 2222 in North America and Paragraph 14a of the Energy Industry Act in Germany continue to evolve, having a robust and scalable DERMS platform becomes increasingly critical for success in the distributed energy landscape. Read the full blog to discover how AWS can help transform your DER aggregation business: https://lnkd.in/egvGjYfD #AWS #EnergyTransition #DERMS #DistributedEnergy #GridModernization #CloudNative #EnergyInnovation #Utilities

An Australian electricity retailer just launched something that should get every utility executive's attention. They're paying customers $365 annually to avoid drawing power from the grid during peak hours—but the real story is what this reveals about the future of energy. Here's what Globird Energy's "ZeroHero" program actually does: customers get $1 daily for keeping grid consumption below 0.03kWh per hour during the critical 6-8pm peak. That means essentially zero grid dependence when demand is highest, forcing complete reliance on home batteries. The program accepts batteries from 3-100kWh capacity and operates across four Australian states covering 21.5 million people. During extreme grid events, participants earn an additional $1 per kWh delivered back to the grid. The business economics are fascinating. Globird loses roughly $0.80 per customer daily on direct payments, but makes money through virtual power plant aggregation. They're essentially paying customers to form a distributed grid resource, then monetizing that aggregated capacity in wholesale markets where prices can spike above $500/MWh during peak events. This isn't unique globally. Tesla pays California customers $2/kWh during emergencies, Duke Energy offers $9,000 upfront incentives, and Germany's Sonnen network aggregates 25,000 batteries totaling 250MWh. But Globird's approach is different—it's about behavioral psychology, not just technology. Rather than complex time-of-use rates that customers ignore, they're using loss aversion. People focus on not losing that daily dollar, creating habits that align with grid needs. It's brilliant behavioral design disguised as a pricing plan. The bigger signal here is utilities transforming from commodity providers to platform operators. The US Department of Energy calculates that tripling virtual power plant capacity by 2030 could save $10 billion annually. Wood Mackenzie projects the distributed energy market reaching $68 billion in annual capital expenditure by 2027. Australia leads because of regulatory support—$2.3 billion in federal battery subsidies plus state incentives—but the model is exportable. As traditional utility margins get squeezed, aggregating customer assets becomes a survival strategy. We're witnessing the early days of energy platform economics. Instead of fighting distributed resources, smart utilities are figuring out how to orchestrate them. The winners will be those who turn customers into partners, not just bill payers. What's your take? Are behavioral incentives like this more effective than complex pricing for driving customer participation?

Colorado is showing how to scale distributed solar and storage in ways that meet both customer and grid needs at the same time. As Latitude Media reports, the state’s new dispatchable distributed generation (DDG) framework combines solar — including community solar — with storage to deliver clean, flexible, and reliable power. It’s a model that succeeds when programs are built around data transparency, fast interconnection, and scalable processes—getting projects online quickly and demonstrating measurable value for both the grid and consumers. If we design these programs right, we can build a more efficient energy system, avoiding billions in new transmission and distribution investments by putting clean power closer to where it’s needed. Pairing competitive community solar with DDG not only expands customer access and strengthens grid reliability—it also opens new ways for utilities to deliver greater system efficiency through better utilization of existing assets. That’s the path to aligning incentives, lowering costs, and creating the kind of grid customers actually want: clean, affordable, and built for the future. https://lnkd.in/gVVXtJQv

Bloomberg called out the tension everyone in this sector feels. Money is pouring into AI data centers at a pace that outruns power, people, and realistic timelines. Debt is cheap, structures are clever, and some investors are betting on capacity that does not exist yet. That speed brings risk, but it also brings a clear message. The world needs more compute and the next generation of projects has to be built with discipline, not hype. The truth is simple. Centralized builds alone cannot meet this demand. The grid is tapped, transmission moves slow, and communities want jobs and resilience, not another ten year wait. The answer is a decentralized data center model that pairs fast deployment with responsible energy planning. Local storage. Firm power. Smarter siting. Realistic schedules that match the load curve and do not gamble with uptime. This is where responsible capital wins. You get the speed investors want, the stability operators need, and the certainty communities deserve. It also means better job creation because smaller distributed sites get built faster and spread opportunity instead of concentrating it in a single megaproject. For investors looking at this space, the path is here. Build the compute stack and the energy stack together. Underwrite both sides with the same seriousness. If you want exposure to decentralized data centers with timelines that match market demand instead of grid delays, reach out. I am having these conversations every day. #datacenters #energy #infrastructure #AIinfrastructure #energystorage #distributedenergy #microgrids #renewableenergy #cleanenergy #projectfinance #privatecredit #infrainvesting #digitalinfrastructure #edgecomputing #futureofenergy