Electricity retailer Vistra is expanding its battery aggregation program Enphase energy‘s IQ batteries for residential virtual power plants (VPP). The program, Battery Rewards, is offered through Vistra’s flagship electricity brand, TXU Energy, and allows eligible Enphase customers to earn incentives by exporting stored battery power to the grid during periods of high demand.
Enphase IQ batteries.
Through Battery Rewards, Vistra collects energy from participating customer residential batteries and sends it to the Texas electric grid during times of energy demand. By using flexible distributed energy resources, the program helps manage peak demand.
“As Texas continues to expect rapid load growth, demand-side solutions are becoming increasingly important,” said Sam Sen, Vistra’s vice president of energy transition solutions. “By bringing additional flexible resources such as batteries online during critical periods, we can strengthen the reliability of the network and deliver more load using the infrastructure already in place.”
TXU Energy customers who enroll in Battery Rewards and own an Enphase IQ Battery will receive financial incentives for participating while maintaining control of their systems during local power outages. Participants can continue to earn bill credits for solar exports through TXU Energy’s solar buyback plans.
“The pace of energy demand growth in Texas is unlike anything we’ve seen before, especially as more people move to the state and industries from manufacturing to technology are all growing,” said Marco Krapels, chief marketing officer and head of global energy markets at Enphase Energy. “Through our partnership with Vistra, flexible, distributed energy sources like Enphase home battery systems can help meet this demand when and where it is needed most, while compensating homeowners and maintaining backup power and control when it matters most.”
News item from Vistra
