South African energy-technology company Plentify has been appointed as the exclusive virtual power plant (VPP) partner to Deye, a manufacturer of residential solar inverters and batteries, with the aim of establishing the largest residential VPP in Africa.
The companies define a VPP as a network of distributed energy resources – such as residential batteries and electric water heaters – that are digitally co-ordinated to operate as a single power plant. A VPP is designed to intelligently manage existing energy resources to support grid stability and improve renewable-energy integration.
The partnership will enable 160 000 Deye residential batteries already installed across SA to be intelligently co-ordinated via Plentify’s VPP platform, creating an aggregated distributed energy resource with about 2.7GWh of controllable capacity.
Plentify and Deye say that globally, VPPs are increasingly recognised as a cost-effective alternative to building new grid infrastructure.
Colin Chang, cloud director at Deye, says: "South Africa holds an irreplaceable core strategic position in Deye’s global layout. Its unique market characteristics and transformative potential make it a key benchmark market for Deye’s business innovation and expansion across emerging economies. Over the past five years, we have built one of the country's largest residential energy-storage footprints, creating the scale needed to support a national virtual power plant.”
Deye has deployed VPP programmes in mature energy markets, including Australia and France. “Those deployments have given us valuable operational experience in orchestrating distributed residential batteries at scale, and we are excited to bring those learnings to South Africa through our partnership with Plentify. Our experience has shown that success depends on combining proven global technology with deep local market expertise. As a recognised leader in residential VPPs in South Africa, Plentify’s understanding of the local energy system, its proven work with utilities and municipalities, and its residential VPP capability made it the natural partner to help unlock the full value of our installed base.”
Jon Kornik, CEO and co-founder of Plentify, says SA's energy transition has been unique, driven largely by extreme load-shedding. “The result is that batteries are included with more than 90% of solar systems – a greater proportion than almost anywhere in the world – but are sitting idle for large portions of the day, especially now that load-shedding has receded.
"With approximately 2.7GWh of existing battery capacity, this partnership represents almost twice the capacity of Eskom's current 1.4GWh Battery Energy Storage Programme – a multibillion-rand, multi-year infrastructure investment. It shows how distributed energy resources can complement traditional infrastructure investments by rapidly unlocking value at scale from assets that are already in place."
The collaboration will also see Deye market Plentify's HotBot intelligent geyser controller to South African customers.
“Our partnership with Plentify represents far more than a technology integration; it demonstrates how hardware, software and intelligent energy services can work together to build a more resilient, decentralised electricity system while creating long-term value for our customers,” concludes Chang.
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