E.ON expands its virtual power plant

2 November 2017



E.ON’s virtual power plant continues to grow – four emergency power generators for Fraport AG are now linked to E.ON’s energy platform. This means that, if it’s needed, Frankfurt Airport can feed additional energy into the power grid at a few seconds notice.


E.ON’s virtual power plant continues to grow – four emergency power generators for Fraport AG are now linked to E.ON’s energy platform. This means that, if it’s needed, Frankfurt Airport can feed additional energy into the power grid at a few seconds notice.

At its home base in Frankfurt, Fraport AG, which is a full-service provider in airport management, with 24 airport holdings on three continents, provides, among other things, a stable supply of power for all airport facilities connected to the supply network. Its 68 emergency power generators ensure that, even in the event of a power failure, airport operations can continue safely without interruption.

Through its virtual power plant, E.ON can draw directly on the power generation facilities of its customers to stabilise the power grid when demand is too high or too low. Fraport AG’s emergency power generators can also be activated to supply up to 5 MW of additional power to the public grid within a few seconds. In the event of a power failure, the Fraport AG network disconnects itself from the public grid, and the emergency power generators kick in to provide the airport with an autonomous supply of power. In such an event, access to the generators by E.ON’s virtual power plant is automatically interrupted and not reactivated until the power supply at the airport has stabilised.

Energy transition

“Virtual power plants are an important component in meeting the challenges posed by the energy transition ... we have found a solution that lets emergency power generators contribute to the energy transition,” commented Johannes Werhahn, head of Flexibility, Renewables Marketing & Storage Solutions at E.ON Connecting Energies GmbH.

“Through the successful marketing and integration of our units into the virtual power plant, we now generate additional income as long as no emergency power supply is required at the airport. In this way, Fraport is making an important contribution to the success of the energy transition,” said Christian Balletshofer, head of Real Estate at Fraport AG.

The increasingly decentralised production associated with the expansion of renewable energy sources means that fluctuations in the electricity grid are increasing and forecasts are becoming ever more difficult to make – which confronts grid operators with major challenges. E.ON believes that its virtual power plant mobilises the flexibility that a power supply of more than 500 MW provides. 

E.ON E.ON expands its virtual power plant


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