Next Kraftwerke
Next Kraftwerke is the operator of a large-scale virtual power plant (VPP) and a certified power trader on the EPEX energy exchange’s spot market. A couple of hundred renewable energy plants are already interconnected via remote access modules which allow for data exchange between the decentralized plants and the central control system of our Next Pool virtual power plant. Consequently, Next Kraftwerke is able to offer the plants’ flexibility on the balancing energy markets. In addition to providing balancing energy services, Next Kraftwerke also trades the aggregated power output of the interconnected plants on the energy exchange’s spot market. We merge data from various sources such as operational data from our virtual power plant, current weather and grid data as well as live market data. This gives Next Kraftwerke an edge over conventional power traders.
Company details
Find locations served, office locations
- Business Type:
- Service provider
- Industry Type:
- Energy
- Market Focus:
- Internationally (various countries)
About Us
Every week our virtual power plant is growing. In 2013, we were able to sell about 2.4 TWh of renewable energy on the spot market. Additionally, the units in our virtual power plant regularly provided valuable tertiary reserve and secondary reserve services. We strongly believe in the ability of renewable energies to themselves efficiently counter the grid imbalances they cause – and the interconnected units in our virtual power plant live up to this claim each and every day.
If you would like to receive additional information on our company, our services, and our virtual power plant please do not hesitate to contact us. We will be glad to get in touch with you.
Our goal
'What if, we thought when coming up with the idea of establishing a large-scale virtual power plant a couple of years ago, what if the renewables were able to assume the same market and grid responsibility as conventional power plants? Wouldn't this boost the integration of renewables into the existing energy sector? Today, we have come quite some steps closer to our goal. Our virtual power plant Next Pool regularly corrects grid imbalances within minutes and our trading department currently sells more than 1 TWh of renewable energies per year. But we are not done yet. Not by a long shot. Every day we contract and integrate new plants, and optimize our control system as well as our trading strategies.'
Solar Energy
Solar energy has one advantage over other renewable energies: Solar cells produce power during the day, when it is needed most, roughly between 9 am and 6 pm. In countries with a high proportion of solar power feed-in, this natural advantage has led to a decrease in power prices on the open market. It’s quite simple: Photovoltaic (PV) power is cheap, once the initial cost of manufacturing and installing the solar modules is paid off. Thus PV will gradually squeeze conventional power suppliers – coal, gas, nuclear – out of the market. But solar energy also has a couple of disadvantages compared to conventional power suppliers. For starters, PV parks are not necessarily located near to big consumers such as industrial parks. In fact, PV parks are located where there is a high probability of continuous and strong solar radiation. This means that existing power grids that were built for the conventional power industry are put under stress by increased – and fluctuating – solar feed-in. Another disadvantage arises from the fact that solar energy producers are newcomers to the conventional power industry – especially when it comes to trading their output on the wholesale markets.
Our virtual power plant offers a solution to the solar industry’s grid limitations and market integration problems. By interconnecting decentralized solar parks, the control system of our virtual power plant is able to aggregate feed-in, grid and market data. This is the first necessary step in order to trade solar power on the wholesale market in a smart fashion. Being a certified trader at EPEX Spot, Next Kraftwerke offers a wide range of single-source energy exchange trading services, thus providing the solar industry with the required technical and trading know how for superior market integration.