Sunrun, Renew Home form nation’s largest VPP with Tesla

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img alt="virtual power plants" class="wp-image-32477" height="466" src="https://solarbuildermag.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/virtual-power-plants.jpg" width="700" /></figure>

<p>Home storage and solar firm <a href="https://www.sunrun.com/">Sunrun</a> and energy management platform <a href="https://www.renewhome.com/">Renew Home</a> have partnered with EV giant <a href="https://www.tesla.com/">Tesla</a> to form the largest virtual power plant (VPP) service in the U.S.</p>

<p>Promising to deliver more than 16 GW of solar and storage-based home energy resources, the VPP will serve utility companies and data center hyperscalers around the U.S. The agreement establishes a <a href="https://solarbuildermag.com/energy-storage/virtual-power-plant-market-hits-37-5-gw-as-deployments-surge-but-barriers-cap-growth/">VPP framework</a> for three of the largest home energy resource firms in the country, and will allow them to aggregate &#8220;millions&#8221; of exporting devices nationwide.</p>

<p>“The grid of the 1800s cannot power the innovation of 2026,” says Sunrun CEO Mary Powell. “Americans deserve innovation that does not create unnecessary energy costs. When data centers are asked to throttle down operations during the most expensive and stressful hours of the day, we can activate our distributed power plants to help provide them the power they need while also protecting American families from footing the bill for costly new infrastructure.”</p>

<p>The VPP will be deployable in months, rather than years, according to Sunrun representatives. The plan will take those millions of energy assets and turn them into local, turnkey solutions, none of which require any hardware, software, interconnection, water, or land usage for offtakers. The VPP framework will free up transmission capacity across the U.S. energy grid, allowing for much needed energy resiliency, and bill savings for homeowners around the country.</p>

<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bold-ambitions-win-win-solutions">Bold ambitions, win-win solutions</h3>

<p>Sunrun officials say the companies already have more than 300 MW of VPP capacity ready to go for immediate deployment in Virginia. The companies expect that figure to grow to at least 500 MW by the end of the decade, already rivaling some of the largest direct generation facilities in the area. </p>

<p>The companies are also capable of building gigawatts worth of capacity around the U.S., meant to ease the grid strain even further by supplying power to hyperscalers.</p>

<p>“Renew Home convened this strategic coalition because we believe hyperscalers are motivated to drive down costs through this transition and that this group of residential-focused energy companies can help them accomplish that goal,” says Ben Brown, CEO of Renew Home.</p>

<p>Together, the firms have also committed to providing extra capacity to <a href="https://www.pjm.com/about-pjm">PJM</a>, and its supposed Reliability Backstop Process. This hypothetical program would allow PJM to unlock more than 1 GW of capacity immediately, with more deployable in coming years.</p>

<p>Sunrun representatives say the new VPP framework is a &#8220;win-win-win&#8221; for customers, communities, and economic development in the U.S. The program will improve energy scaling, speed of deployment, and cost effectiveness, unlocking bill savings for participating homeowners.</p>

<p>“The stakes are clear. America’s grid faces mounting pressure from data centers, electrification, and manufacturing growth that no single infrastructure solution can solve fast enough,” says Colby Hastings, senior director of residential energy at Tesla. “Sunrun, Renew Home, and Tesla believe that a huge piece of the answer is already in place — in the batteries, thermostats, and <a href="https://solarbuildermag.com/projects/big-opportunities-for-solar-carports-in-u-s-amid-unsteady-market/">electric vehicles</a> inside millions of American homes, waiting to be put to work.”</p>
<p>-- Solar Builder magazine</p>