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In November, Next Kraftwerke provided balancing energy in Italy for the first time. The Virtual Power Plant offered the transmission grid operator (TSO) TERNA 4.6 megawatts of flexibility. In a first step, Next Kraftwerke had bid in the auction for positive balancing energy. It was thus ready to regulate the consumption of one of its customers – in this case a concrete plant – in response to a signal from the TSO within fifteen minutes if required.

Next Kraftwerke has won the Digital Champions Award 2019. The jury awarded the Virtual Power Plant in the category “Digital Products and Services”. “A very innovative digital product that also follows the megatrend of sustainable, efficient energy generation and use,” the jury judged. 

Next Kraftwerke and Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation (Toshiba ESS) have signed an agreement (Memorandum of Understanding) to assess the compatibility of their Virtual Power Plant (VPP) systems and sales channels. The companies aim at jointly developing competitive VPP services by the end of March 2020.

Next Kraftwerke is one of the 500 companies in Germany that business magazine FOCUS and statistics portal Statista have chosen as Growth Champions 2020. The Growth Champions 2020 are a list of the top 500 companies in Germany that achieved a high percentage growth in sales between 2015 and 2018. 

Japanese gas and power company, Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. and Next Kraftwerke, operator of one of the largest Virtual Power Plant (VPP) in Europe, have agreed to conduct a joint verification on solar power generation forecast. Starting today, Next Kraftwerke will forecast the PV production of the 1 MWp solar power station located in Yura. 

Next Kraftwerke and Energy on Track signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The companies are aiming at establishing the first Virtual Power Plant in Kazakhstan using Next Kraftwerke‘s VPP-as-a-service NEMOCS. 

The sites of Nouryon in Rotterdam, Hengelo and Delftzijl not only produce and supply salts, chlorines and lyes for the industry - with flexible production they also help to balance the Dutch electricity grid. Through Next Kraftwerke‘s control system, Nouryon can respond to the activations of transmission system operator TenneT in the event of major shortages or surpluses in the Dutch grid, by temporarily switching part of the electrolysis processes or steam turbines to a lower operating point. Next Kraftwerke takes care of the aggregation, control and provision of emergency power, while Nouryon ensures that all processes respond optimally, quickly and safely to the control signals.

German energy journal E&M confirms in its 10th survey on power trading: “With an output of more than 3,100 MW, Next Kraftwerke is still by far the largest solar direct marketer in Germany and was able to increase its lead over the number two (…)”.

The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court (OLG) has upheld Next Kraftwerke's claim and annulled the mixed-price system on the balancing energy market. This will probably revive the previously valid tender procedure on the basis of capacity prices.

The Baden-Württemberg grid security initiative “DA/RE” (“DAta exchange/REdispatch”) addresses the increasing volatility and decentralisation of power generation. The aim is to stabilise the entire electricity system by utilising the flexibility potential of decentralised generation units from lower grid levels. Originally launched in the summer of 2018 by TSCNET shareholder TransnetBW, the German transmission system operator (TSO) from the state of Baden-Württemberg, and the southwest German distribution system operator (DSO) Netze BW, the project consortium was later expanded so that a total of three DSOs and four other partners from the areas of virtual power plants, home storage and energy trading were involved in the first DA/RE pilot phase from April to June 2019.