Sonnen launches virtual power plant in Canadian sustainable home community

As a prototype, the Blatchford Lands VPP begins with 100 Sonnen batteries deployed throughout the community, representing nearly a half a megawatt of power and over 2 megawatt hours of storage capacity that will support the Canadian energy grid.

A new virtual power plant (VPP) was built by Landmark Homes, a specialist in sustainable home construction, in collaboration with utility provider EPCOR, electric retail provider Solartility, energy storage provider Sonnen, and the University of Alberta.

The energy storage in the VPP, provided by Sonnen, provides the community and its residents with emergency back-up power, daily management of peak energy use and demand response, among other grid services.

VPPs are an aggregation of small-scale distributed energy resources, often including solar energy systems, electric vehicles (EVs), EV chargers and demand response devices including water heaters, thermostats and appliances.

The VPP was developed for Blatchford Lands, a master planned community in Edmonton designed for net-zero living and a reduced environmental footprint. Located on what was formerly Edmonton’s municipal airport, the community now includes diverse housing options equipped with renewable energy sources for heating and cooling and is intended to serve as a model for sustainable urban development.

The University of Alberta is working with the project team to model the potential impacts of scaling the project and will help quantify the financial value, greenhouse gas reductions and grid benefits of this model.

As a prototype, the Blatchford Lands VPP begins with 100 Sonnen batteries deployed throughout the community, representing about 500 kW of power and over 2 MWh of storage capacity that will support the Canadian energy grid.

Following this initial deployment, sonnen said it plans to launch VPPs throughout Alberta and into other Canadian regions, aiming to deploy batteries in over 3,000 individual sites, providing more than 18 MW / 60 MWh of grid support over the next 3 years.

“What has been achieved at Blatchford Lands is extremely special, and even beyond many of the VPP market designs in America,” said Blake Richetta, chairman and CEO of Sonnen Inc. USA. “Sonnen proudly stands behind our Canadian colleagues and customers, as our sister market, and as the closest of friends to the American people.”

The participants consider this master planned community VPP project as a replicable model for communities across the province and throughout Canada, reported Sonnen.

“Canada has developed into a rich and innovative VPP market thanks to the pioneering efforts and support from great partners,” said Geoff Ferrell, senior vice president – Global C&I and VPP project business of Sonnen Inc. USA.

Sonnen has experience in several VPPs in such communities including in Soleil Lofts and Soleil Tech Park in Utah, Hunters Point in Cortez Florida, and Mandalay Homes in Arizona.