Toshiba powers Virtual Power Plants with AI and IoT as markets move to decarbonisation

Japanese tech giant Toshiba has announced that its Virtual Power Plants (VPP) initiative will be driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies as the energy industry worldwide shifts towards decarbonisation and new energy.

In its press release on the matter, Toshiba highlighted the necessity for energy companies to continually adjust their output levels depending on demand and anticipated consumption, and the risk that mismanaged supply can lead to energy shortfalls.

Toshiba’s VPPs can be leveraged in advanced energy management by applying IoT and AI to aggregation of output information, simulating distribution across networks and “enabling fine adjustments and no-waste generation” through data-driven insights.

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As the new energy supply market continues to expand, the management of renewably sourced energy will become increasingly paramount to the success of suppliers, and VPPs are set to facilitate the intelligent management necessary for success.

Toshiba added an additional benefit of VPPs in its statement: “Used in combination with energy management systems at consumer sites, VPP can create and support innovative services. For instance, power that is not consumed as a result of incentives on the demand side, is seen as having the same value as power that is generated, and is measured as a 'negawatt'. 

“VPP can stimulate realization of negawatts, and manage them. In a fully realized market, it will become possible to buy electricity generated from all kinds of power supply sources, including low cost generation by consumers.”