A team of researchers have created a virtual prototype of the combined power plant developed by the Combined Power Plant 2 Project, that has already shown that it is technologically possible to let each individual producer feed their electricity into the grid and have the grid remain stable during this process.

EU-funded researchers working on the Combined Power Plant 2 Project have developed a virtual prototype of the combined power plant that has already shown that it is technologically possible to let each individual producer feed their electricity into the grid and have the grid remain stable during this process. In April 2012, it was also announced that a new methodology to assess the European potential for pumped hydropower, a type of electricity storage was being studied.

The project has linked, via the internet, 25 plants with a nominal power output of 120 megawatts and, as simulated storage, a pumped storage power plant and electric vehicles. A central control base ensures that the disadvantages of the renewable energies are reduced, taking into account that the sun does not always shine, and the wind does not blow continuously. When many small producers work together the regional differences regarding wind and sunshine can be balanced out by the power grid or controllable biogas facilities. In addition, surplus power can be stored or turned into thermal energy.

The researchers stressed that renewable energy sources will also have to increasingly make contributions to ancillary services such as frequency and voltage stabilisation, black start capability (to recover from a total or partial shutdown independently of a power grid) and inertia reserve. In the future, according to the Combined Power Plant 2 model, the renewable energy network will also be able to take responsibility for providing these ancillary services.