- First secure cloud solution for virtual power plants in Germany
- Robust data communication and management
- Market launch as of now
Deutsche Telekom and Ventyx, an ABB company, are for the first time enabling energy providers to manage securely virtual power plants in Germany from the cloud. The software that has been extensively tested within the T-City project is now ready for commercial use in Germany. By merging smaller local plants into a larger virtual power plant, energy providers react flexibly and quicker to energy surpluses or bottlenecks and can balance them out. This means for example that it is possible to compensate for the significant fluctuations in wind and solar energy production. The complete package from the cloud comprises the energy management software and the control center. The ability to read and transfer the data and establish a secure IT and communications infrastructure to electricity generators such as combined heat and power plants or heat pumps and consumers such as cold storage facilities or buildings is also part of the cloud solution. Usage is billed on a monthly basis per location and megawatt. While Ventyx provides the software to manage the power plants, Telekom looks after the IT infrastructure and data communication, and also markets the solution. Usage based on the service, payment based on consumption "Through the cloud service, customers only pay for the service that they actually use. Thus, they save on expenses for creating their own IT infrastructure and for software. Expensive capital investments can thus be transformed into flexible operating costs," explains Andreas Knobloch, responsible for Strategy & Communications in the Strategic Market Energy at Deutsche Telekom. "With these virtual power plant capabilities, energy providers do not just balance out technical fluctuations in the network; they are also able to operate on the energy market and purchase power at reasonable prices during peak loads or resell it if needed. In doing so, energy providers have the ideal basis for operating new business areas like this," says Tom O'Meara, General Manager, Energy Portfolio Management Solutions, Ventyx, an ABB company. Secure communications infrastructure Communication between the central control room and local plants takes place via DSL lines or mobile communications. This means that the IT infrastructure is structured and secured in a way that ensures that attackers cannot access the plants or the solution externally. Telekom operates the software in a highly secure data center in Germany. The on-site systems are equipped with a specially developed service gateway which controls 15 different device protocols such as Interbus, CAN or ABB SV and transmits data via an Internet protocol. Telekom and ABB have been developing common solutions for the energy system transition since 2010. One result of the partnership is the intelligent secondary substation. With this, energy providers can operate their equipment more efficiently because these can host more renewable energy.
About Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom is one of the world's leading integrated telecommunications companies with 133 million mobile customers, 32 million fixed-network lines and more than 17 million broadband lines (as of March 31, 2013). The Group provides products and services for the fixed network, mobile communications, the Internet and IPTV for consumers, and ICT solutions for business customers and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom is present in around 50 countries and has 230,000 employees worldwide. The Group generated revenues of EUR 58.2 billion in the 2012 financial year - more than half of it outside Germany (as of December 31, 2012).