West Sussex Virtual Power Plant

West Sussex's virtual power plant running at full speed amid the coronavirus pandemic.

07:26 29 May 2020

West Sussex's £31million virtual power plant (VPP) project is not in any way affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The power plant, which works by streamlining how low-carbon is generated, stored, traded and consumed is running at full speed despite the UK-wide lockdown. 

 

The Connected Energy-led project was first announced in West Sussex last year after it received £31million from the UK Government through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. The project will help in the decarbonisation of heat, transport and energy across transport, social housing and private residential and commercial properties in West Sussex. 

 

Matthew Lumsden, Connected Energy CEO and Chair of the SmartHubs Steering Committee, said: "SmartHub is a massive project for a massive challenge, working with local authority committed to both the Climate Change Agenda and supporting SME scale up.

 

"Bringing together innovative technologies and integrating them on this scale is an exciting proposition and one we are keen to see replicated up and down the country to help manage the climate emergency we're facing. Working on a project like this during a global pandemic is a challenge but it's more important than ever that we can create a replicable model for the rest of the UK to follow."