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Want to 'power up' the value of your home battery?
Join our Virtual Power Plant (VPP) energy plan, which could help maximise the benefits of your solar and battery system.
Earn bill credits when you join our VPP
*Join our VPP to maximise your solar and battery system with a $300 sign-up credit on your first bill for new VPP customers, plus approximately $20 monthly VPP Community credit. The longer you stay the more you earn!
Plus, receive a competitive solar Feed-in Tariff to help make the most out of your solar exports.
Interested to learn more?
What is a Virtual Power Plant?
A Virtual Power Plant (VPP) is a network of connected home solar and battery systems that together support the electricity grid.
View our video to discover more on how our VPP can work for you.
Store excess energy
During times when your solar system generates more than you can use, the VPP stores this excess energy in your battery, for you to use in the evening when the sun goes down.
Support the grid
Our priority is to always ensure you have enough energy stored in your battery to meet your needs. When the grid is under stress, the VPP will share excess energy with your local community and you benefit from ongoing credits.
Read our FAQs below for more information on how we use and share your excess energy.
What people are saying about VPP
I saved 62% of the cost of the battery
"The upfront and ongoing credits made the cost of the Tesla battery far more affordable, I saved 62% of the cost of the battery. It was a great way to help recoup the cost of the solar battery system."
Fiona
I haven’t had a power bill in two years
"The VPP is part of my whole home energy setup, and because everything’s combined, I haven’t had a power bill in two years. I wanted to join the VPP because of the rebates offered."
Jeremy Mugg
... generous battery subsidy and export rate
"I wanted to opt into the VPP because of the generous battery subsidy and export rate. I also think it’s helpful for grid support and helping ease climate change."
Kaden San
Am I eligible?
To be eligible for our Virtual Power Plant, you must be:
- A resident of SA, NSW, VIC or QLD.
- Have an eligible battery installed at your premise.
- An available, continuous, and reliable internet connection to which your energy storage system is connected (excluding Satellite NBN and 3G/4G/5G & satellite internet connections).
- A smart meter installed at your premises
- A fully functioning solar system with a minimum inverter size of 3kW and maximum of 10kW.
- If you have more than one eligible battery, they must be connect to separate phases.
You can view the full eligibility criteria within our terms and conditions.
Award-winning energy solutions
Innovation Excellence 2022
We’re proud to have won this award for our Solar Sharing Scheme in partnership with Hunter Douglas in NSW.
Innovation and Collaboration 2020
Awarded for our world-leading VPPx, this project was recognised for its increasing of consumer benefits from home battery systems.
IoT for Energy 2020
We were thrilled to be acknowledged for our work in growing connectivity and IoT innovation for our VPPx project.
Frequently asked questions
What are the benefits of joining a Virtual Power Plant?
Store excess energy
When your solar system generates more than you can use, your battery stores this excess energy for you to use in the evening when the sun goes down.
Share excess energy with your community
When the grid is under stress, the Virtual Power Plant will share excess energy with your local community. Don’t worry, you’ll always benefit from monthly VPP credits to your account, and you won’t have your supply interrupted due to your participation in the VPP as our priority is to always ensure you always have enough stored energy in your battery to meet your needs.
Support the grid
Battery storage and VPPs do more than simply earn bill credits. These smarter, more sustainable energy solutions mean you’ll also be helping take care of your community and environment by supporting the grid.
How will I receive my credits?
Join our VPP to maximise your solar and battery system with a $300 sign-up credit on your first bill for new VPP customers, plus approximately $20 monthly VPP community credit. This is an ongoing contract, the longer you stay the more you earn!
What is my solar FiT?
Your Feed-in Tariff will depend on the state you are located. Your current Simply Energy Feed-in Tariff will be listed below;
- NSW: 15c/kWh (as of 23 November 2022)
- VIC: 15c/kWh (as of 23 November 2022)
- SA: 15c/kWh (as of 1 July 2022)
- QLD: 7c/kWh (as of 1 July 2022)
To see if you are eligible for a Premium or Distributor FiT, or learn more about how Solar FiTs work, visit our Help Centre.
Do I still receive my Feed-in Tariff whilst on a VPP?
Yes. customers that join our VPP are eligible to receive the FiT outlined above.
Can I join if I have received a government grant for my battery?
Yes. Customers are still eligible to join if they have received a grant for their battery purchase.
Do you need to install anything on my battery?
No. We connect customers to the VPP community via a cloud-based platform, so no installation is required.
What happens if my battery isn’t eligible for your VPP?
We are always interested in hearing from you and if you do have a battery that isn’t on our eligible list now, it may be something we can put in place for the future. You can reach out to use on 1800 290 773.
How many times will Simply Energy access my battery?
Our priority is to maximise the benefit our customers receive by joining our VPP community. We guarantee that in any 12 month period we won’t extract more than 405kWh from your Energy Storage System.
Historically we have used less than 100kWh per year, so you can be confident your VPP Payments will always be significantly more than the cost of Simply Energy access your battery.
For Tesla Powerwall, this reflects our strategy of supporting the grid by providing frequency support. The Frequency Control Ancillary Service (FCAS) markets, which typically require only a very short imports or discharges of energy to help support the grid.
What will happen during a blackout?
With minimal disruption, the battery will automatically back-up either your whole home or selected essential loads (depending on which circuits you have selected to be supplied and how many power phases are in your home).
Some key features of battery during a blackout include:
- The ability for your solar PV system to continue generating energy to power your home and/or charge your battery (only applicable for single phase solar PV inverters)
- In most cases you won’t notice the switch to using the backup power in the battery
As part of our VPP you will have access to a minimum storage capacity in the battery. For customers with Tesla Powerwall 2, the manufacturers recommended minimum capacity is 20%.
Why do you use my battery?
We use your battery in two ways to support the grid in times of need. You will receive VPP Community Credits in consideration for the payments we receive for this support. The 2 ways we support the grid are:
- Wholesale Energy Market Support
In Australia, wholesale energy prices are set every 5 minutes depending on the amount of energy that is being generated and used across the grid. In some rare cases, when there is particularly high energy demand (for example during a summer heat wave) or if there is a sudden reduction in supply (for example if a power station breaks down) then wholesale energy prices can spike to very high levels. By exporting the energy stored in your battery, in times where energy prices are very high, we can help the grid to retain its supply and demand balance and create extra value from the wholesale energy market. - Ancillary Services Support
A side effect of an imbalance between the energy supply and energy demand on the grid is a change in the frequency of the electricity on the grid. Significant frequency variations from the normal 50Hz can lead to issues across the grid. The grid operator has established markets to provide ancillary services to stabilise the frequency of the gird in times of need – these markets are called Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) markets. Your battery can provide these ancillary services via brief periods of automatic charging or discharging in response to grid frequency deviations, and in doing so it generates payments from these FCAS markets.
What happens if you don’t use my battery?
Our VPP credits are not contingent on whether we use your battery. If we don’t use your battery, this will not impact the value of credits that you will receive over this period.
I have a reliable internet connection with good speeds on 3G, 4G and 5G, why do I need to have a fixed internet connection?
Currently the response times for 3G, 4G, 5G & satellite are not suitable for the VPP.
I'm an existing VPP customer, can i still sign up to this energy plan?
Yes, you can still sign up to this plan if you're an existing BYO VPP customer, although you are not eligible for the $300 sign up credit.
Are there any fees if I decide to leave the VPP?
There are no fees if you leave this energy plan.
I have more than 1 eligible battery, am I eligible for multiple credits?
You are eligible to receive a sign-up credit per battery (up to a maximum of 3), if:
- Each battery is an eligible battery;
- You have 3 phase connection and each battery is connected to an individual phase; and
- You have an export agreement in place to allow for energy from all batteries to be exported concurrently.
What are the current batteries eligible for the VPP?
Currently, only the Tesla Powerwall 2 is eligible for the VPP.
We also have a regulated Standing Offer available. For more information, call us on 1300 029 223.
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