虚拟电厂和能源正义-49页_945kb

Virtual Power Plants and Energy Justice Summary

Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) are aggregated, dispatchable groups of distributed energy resources (DERs), such as solar generation, batteries, and electric vehicles, overseen by a central controller. They participate in wholesale markets and provide various grid services without the need for physical power plants.

Energy justice refers to achieving equitable outcomes in energy transitions, addressing social, economic, and health burdens on historically marginalized communities through four tenets:

• Procedural Justice: Fair and transparent decision-making processes.
• Distributive Justice: Equitable allocation of energy investments' benefits and burdens.
• Recognitional Justice: Acknowledging and addressing the needs of vulnerable communities.
• Restorative Justice: Remediation and community development to heal historical harms.

VPPs can provide numerous benefits:

• Grid Services: Reduce capital requirements, support resource adequacy, enable frequency response, peak shaving, voltage regulation, and increase system resilience.
• Economic Development: Provide local resilience, reduce electricity bills, and support workforce and economic development.
• Public Health Benefits: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions, noise and air pollution.

However, adoption faces barriers in underserved communities due to cost-based issues (lack of capital, loans, affordable ownership), socioeconomic challenges (energy limiting behavior, lack of flexibility capital), and historical barriers (community mistrust, knowledge gaps, exposure to fossil fuel economy, natural disaster vulnerability).

VPPs, if designed with energy justice in mind, can advance clean energy goals and promote equity. Future research should explore scaling pathways, financing models, and policy incentives to enhance accessibility.

This report is available at no cost from NREL at www.nrel.gov/publications.