Addressing Energy-Efficiency with Virtual Power Plants

Abstract

Halfway through the implementation of the People’s Republic of China’s 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010), the government of Guangdong and other provinces such as Hebei, Jiangsu, and Shandong are building virtual “efficiency power plants” (EPPs). This is to deliver energy-efficiency targets and at the same time satisfy growing energy demand and promote stable economic growth. EPP is a concept that allows aggregated savings in energy on a par with the productivity of a physical power plant. An EPP is a bundle of investments in energy-savings technologies such that the magnitude of the energy saved obviates the need to install new power generation of equivalent capacity. It is virtual because it does not exist physically. It exists instead in the guise of the energy saved. Unlike conventional coal-fired power plants, an EPP burns no fuel, emits no pollution, involves no land acquisition, and costs much less.