Next Kraftwerke Belgium BVBA/SPRL - Brussels

Who we are: Founded in 2009 Next Kraftwerke is the operator of a large-scale Virtual Power Plant (VPP) and a certified power trader on different European exchange markets (e.g. EPEX and EEX). Our VPP bundles about 3,800 medium- and small-scale power producing and power consuming units. It includes among others generators such as biogas, wind, and solar. By interconnecting our clients’ units we have created a sizeable digital platform of flexible power producers and consumers. To put it in a nutshell: We are a power plant operator without any power plants.

What we do: We are specialists for short term trading. With our business model we seize the chance that the value of power fluctuates: 96 times a day, every 15 minutes. We are able to produce and consume electricity when prices are  

Show more

best for our clients (peak load operation resp. demand response). Our traders directly trade the aggregated power of the interconnected units on different energy exchange spot markets. In doing so, our VPP substantially contributes to stabilizing the grid by smartly distributing the power generated by the individual units in times of peak load (control reserve). We thereby rely on the activation of the flexibility which some renewables possess, e.g. biogas, biomass and hydro power plants. Furthermore, the flexible power consumers in our VPP are able to consume electricity in times of grid overload.

How we do it: Each individual unit is connected to the VPP via our Next Box. The Next Box is a remote access module, which transmits its signals via the mobile network and was specially developed for our needs. Using the Next Box, we are able to automatically operate the power producing and power consuming units through the central control system of Next Kraftwerke’s Virtual Power Plant – while the individual units still remain independent in their operation and ownership. To successfully manage generation and demand and subsequently trade our client’s power most profitably, we set up an algorithm. We merge additional data from various sources such as operational data from our Virtual Power Plant, current weather and grid data as well as live market data. The accumulation of this data combined with our market experience makes us specialists for day ahead, intraday and control reserve markets. This gives Next Kraftwerke an edge over conventional power traders.

Where we operate: Operating today in all parts of Germany, Next Kraftwerke’s headquarter is in Cologne (North Rhine Westphalia). Since 2014 Next Kraftwerke has also begun to set up its VPP in Austria (2014), Belgium (2014), France (2015), Poland (2016), the Netherlands (2016), Switzerland (2017) and Italy (2017).

What we contribute: To us renewables do not per se equate with unpredictability. On the contrary, as specialists for short term trading, Next Kraftwerke makes the flexibility of renewables a profitable asset. As a result, our VPP has become a serious player for balancing the grid and is gradually taking over the role of traditional power plants. This is particularly important since our power grids were built for traditional power plants. The influx of distributed and fluctuating renewable energies into this system poses a challenge. However, renewables can answer this challenge themselves. Next Kraftwerke’s Virtual Power Plant interconnects different types of renewables and flexible power consumers so that each unit supports the other: The wind calms and, thus, the wind farm isn’t producing any power? The biogas plant takes over its role. No sunshine? A Combined Heat and Power (CHP) unit pitches in. Thus, Next Kraftwerke finds solutions to some of the key challenges of transforming the global energy system towards renewable energies. In addition to that, through Next Kraftwerke small-scale power plants can participate at the control reserve markets in the first place.

Why we believe in it: Jochen Schwill, founder and CEO of Next Kraftwerke: “We believe it is possible to cover the demand for electricity to 100 % with renewable energies in the near future. When coming up with the idea of establishing a large-scale Virtual Power Plant a couple of years ago, we thought: What if the renewables were able to assume the same market and grid responsibility as conventional power plants? Wouldn't this boost the integration of renewables into the existing energy sector? Today, we have moved some considerable steps ahead. In cooperation with our clients we will continue to shape the future electricity market and achieve our goal of 100 % renewable energies.