Breaking Barriers to Gather Energy: Leading the Future – The 2025 Third Virtual Power Plant Operation and Future Development Seminar Concludes Successfully

Amid the comprehensive launch of the electricity spot market and the intensive introduction of demand-side management policies, virtual power plants are undergoing a profound transformation from government invitations to market-oriented operations. In recent years, various regions have actively explored the practical application of virtual power plants, promoting a rapid expansion of their applications and demonstrating significant potential in enhancing energy efficiency and improving the flexibility of power systems.

On May 23, 2025, the Third Virtual Power Plant Operation and Future Development Seminar, co-hosted by Polar Star Power Network and Original Energy, concluded successfully in Hefei, Anhui. Under the theme “Breaking Barriers to Gather Energy, Leading the Future”, nearly 500 industry professionals gathered to discuss the current status and future prospects of the virtual power plant industry, successful case studies, construction experiences, technological innovations, and business models. This dialogue provided valuable references for the development of virtual power plants and the construction of new power systems in China.

During the seminar, the 2025 “Polar Star Cup” Virtual Power Plant Influential Enterprise Awards Ceremony was held, recognizing over 50 companies for their achievements. In his speech, Zhou Quan, President of Polar Star, emphasized that the essence of a virtual power plant is a new form of productive energy. With the national clarification of the operational status of virtual power plants, the construction of new power systems and electricity markets is accelerating, leading to increasingly mature development conditions, prominent roles, and growing demand for virtual power plants.

Through years of exploration and practical experience, virtual power plants are gradually expanding their application scenarios. Currently, the technology for virtual power plants has achieved commercial application in China. From a market perspective, the development of virtual power plants will inject new vitality into the electricity market.

Looking ahead, Polar Star aims to continue serving as a bridge for industry communication. By comprehensively collecting various needs from the virtual power plant sector, Polar Star plans to engage in deep, strategic collaborations with industry associations and research institutions, inviting top experts and outstanding enterprises to jointly create a virtual power plant ecosystem. The goal is to promote the transition of virtual power plants from pilot demonstrations to scaling and market-oriented operations, establishing a new system that covers the entire supply chain of sources, networks, loads, and storage.

Dai Zhong, General Manager of State Grid Anhui Electric Power Company, mentioned in his speech that Anhui, as an integral part of the Yangtze River Delta’s integrated development strategy, is actively participating in the construction of a unified regional electricity market, collaborating with energy companies from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai to build an inter-provincial virtual power plant collaborative scheduling demonstration project. These initiatives provide a solid industrial foundation and market environment for advancing virtual power plant construction in Anhui.

Dai added that in Anhui, virtual power plants have progressed from technology validation to large-scale application, forming several pilot demonstration projects with market-oriented operations. Virtual power plants not only represent innovations in electricity and energy management technology but also signify a profound transformation in energy governance models. He expressed hope that the forum would further strengthen ecological cooperation, cultivate industrial clusters, and establish a value community among the grid operators, service providers, and users.

Xu Yu, Chairman of Hefei Original Energy Technology Co., Ltd., noted that the current development of virtual power plants has significantly advanced under a complete national policy framework and innovative market mechanisms. The term “virtual power plant” has now evolved into a recognized proprietary term. The concept of AI city operators has also transformed, evolving from large-scale energy models to the emergence of Deepseek, marking a collective acknowledgment of AI’s transition from theoretical to practical applications.

This seminar on virtual power plant operations and future development served as a platform for communication and business expansion within the industry, jointly promoting the innovative development of virtual power plant technology. Original Energy calls for more industry partners to participate and provide support in building a new ecosystem for sector development.

Fan Pengfei, Director of the Energy Policy and Market Research Institute at the China Electric Power Planning and Engineering Institute, shared six trends regarding the functions of virtual power plants and six perspectives on empowering the ecosystem. He indicated that as the new power system construction progresses, the role of virtual power plants will increasingly manifest in six major trends: being the “controller” of distributed energy sources, the “regulator” of demand-side response resources, the “amplifier” of new energy storage functions, the “aggregator” for distributed resource participation in the electricity market, the “accelerator” for the evolution of new distribution networks, and the “coupler” for the integrated development of sources, networks, loads, and storage.

China’s virtual power plants are still in their early developmental stages, with provinces actively promoting investments and encouraging various distributed resources to connect to virtual power plants, enabling them to profit through demand response and ancillary service markets. State-owned enterprises currently lead investments, while private companies are rapidly entering the field. Fan proposed six angles for empowering the virtual power plant ecosystem, including management, market, model, technology, standards, and finance, to foster effective and sustainable development.

Feng Shengbo, Director of the Energy System Analysis Research Center at the China Academy of Macroeconomic Research, conducted an in-depth analysis of the policy development trends and market prospects for China’s virtual power plant industry. As a crucial component of the new power system, virtual power plants are receiving increasing policy support. Last year, the National Energy Administration clearly positioned virtual power plants as a new type of aggregated operating entity, urging higher quality development standards. Currently, the State Grid has connected over 160 operational virtual power plants, while the Southern Grid has more than 90, with a combined capacity nearing 16 million kilowatts.

Feng noted that with the acceleration of the nationwide unified electricity market and spot market construction, the relationship between power system operation and the electricity market will become increasingly intertwined. In the future, demand-side resources will gradually be integrated into power balance through mechanisms like virtual power plants, enhancing system flexibility. Virtual power plants are expected to deeply integrate into power system operations, becoming vital for electricity supply security and the construction of new power systems.

Zhao Hongwei, Deputy General Manager of the Power Dispatch Control Center at the Guangdong Power Grid Company, highlighted that the primary issue facing virtual power plants is the mismatch between their regulation capabilities and market value realization. Collaboration among government, grid operators, and resource entities is necessary to address development bottlenecks through policy, market, and technology.

Zhao proposed a new collaborative interaction control model for virtual power plants, focusing on “normal self-operation and demand-based regulation,” tackling the challenges of optimizing virtual power plant resource scheduling while ensuring grid safety. This model aims to lay the groundwork for virtual power plants’ participation in ancillary service markets and enhance their engagement in market activities.

The seminar highlighted the significant role of virtual power plants in the energy transition, showcasing their potential to reshape traditional power system control paradigms and create new value through innovative business models and collaborative frameworks. As the industry continues to evolve, the ongoing dialogue and cooperation among stakeholders will be essential for overcoming challenges and unlocking the full potential of virtual power plants in the energy landscape.