Online cVPP Demonstration Service
This page is the public entry point to the COPOWER Online cVPP Demonstration Service. It brings together the project's business model, replication roadmap, technical documentation, open-source software, and demonstration services into a single, openly accessible resource supporting learning and replication of community-based Virtual Power Plants.
Community-Based Virtual Power Plant
The Online cVPP Demonstration Service consists of three complementary components: (1) the cVPP Business Model, Mobilisation and Replication Roadmap, (2) the University of Iceland simulation-based demonstration service, and (3) the Centria University of Applied Sciences operational demonstration service.
Community-Based Virtual Power Plant
This page provides an overview of the user experience from each of our partners, who were located in Ireland, Iceland the Faroe Islands and two separate pilots in Finland. The delivered pilots adapted to the availability of different renewable energy resources and the respective needs, which were identified during the initial stages of the project. The pilots include the include the installation of a virtual power plant (VPP) in a local government setting utilizing solar energy, a biogas powered VPP in an agricultural setting, a heating system providing heating to a number of community buildings located in the small Nolsoy island in the Faroe Islands and two local residential buildings using a mix of solar and thermal heating to power the VPP. The following provides the documented experience of each of the pilots identifying key steps that should be used as a guide by anybody or group who are exploring the effort to establish a VPP in their regions. Every single implementation has it’s own specific challenges and opportunities and the source of renewable energy can vary from instance to instance but we hope this information will provide a useful guide identifying the key steps that should be considered. In addition we are providing a link to software that was developed as part of the Copower project, which was supported by Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme, that could be reused/adapted to people who are interested in establishing a VPP.
Attached please find the experience from each of our partners in successfully delivering their pilots. They have documented:
The options that were available for a community Virtual Power Plant in their region
The promotions/policies that are in offer in their region
Which option they choose to pursue to create their cVPP
The technical options that were available in their region
Their experience creating their cVPP
The Implementation Timeline
The costs of implementation
The Lessons Learned
Although every single implementation will differ, we hope that this document will provide a useful guideline to anybody from the wider EU community who is looking to establish a virtual power plant in their region and highlights the options, challenges and lessons learned which they can learn from in their own journey.
Download the cVPP Business Model, Mobilization and Replication Roadmap
The University of Iceland demonstration is a simulation-based (non-operational) digital demonstration designed to support learning, experimentation, and replication of community-based Virtual Power Plants.
· It demonstrates how a community-based Virtual Power Plant can:
· coordinate distributed renewable generation and storage, support peer-to-peer energy sharing within and between buildings,
· remain connected to the electricity grid, and
· evaluate cost efficiency and fairness outcomes under different scenarios.
The service is online-accessible, open, and reproducible, and does not represent a live market or trading platform. The Online code repository can be accessed at Access the code repository of University of Iceland here!
The intended users for this service include:
energy communities and local authorities,
project developers and innovation intermediaries,
students and practitioners, and
stakeholders interested in community-based energy systems.
The service supports demonstration, testing, and replication of cVPP concepts in different regional or community contexts. All materials are provided openly to reduce barriers to reuse and to minimise replication risk.
The demonstration illustrates core technical mechanisms relevant to community-based Virtual Power Plants, including:
simulation of household electricity demand and local renewable generation,
AI-enabled demand forecasting to represent real-world uncertainty,
optimisation-based coordination of energy flows between households, buildings, shared storage, and the grid,
comparison of alternative trading and coordination scenarios, and
evaluation of cost savings and fairness outcomes among participants.
All software, documentation, and supporting materials are openly available to encourage reuse, adaptation, and further development by researchers, educators, municipalities, and energy communities.
The roadmap explains how to establish a community-based Virtual Power Plant, while the demonstration services illustrate how these concepts can be implemented and evaluated in practice.
Rather than prescribing a single technical solution, COPOWER demonstrates how community-based Virtual Power Plants can be adapted to different renewable resources, regulatory environments, and community needs across the Northern Periphery and Arctic region.
The Online cVPP Demonstration Service developed by Centria University of Applied Sciences in Finland using a Biogas plant as the source for a virtual Power Plant
Overview of system
The Online code repository can be accessed at Access the code repository of Centria University Of Applied Sciences here!
You can access here the Technical Documentation.
The COPWER pilot 360 virtual tour link of the installation can be viewed here: https://www.thinglink.com/view/scene/2081049427396526948
A public view of key data being captured can be viewed here (using Open to View link)
https://copower.westeurope.cloudapp.azure.com/dashboard/app/public
The COPOWER project is funded by the Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme.
This Online cVPP Demonstration Service is provided for demonstration, capacity-building, and replication support purposes within the COPOWER project. It does not constitute a commercial system or an operational energy trading platform.