VirtuPlan™
Virtual Power Plant solution for distributed energy optimization
Virtual power plants in practice: turning flexibility into value
Gain valuable insights, connect with industry experts, and take your knowledge to the next level.
What is VirtuPlan
VirtuPlan™ is Hitachi Energy’s custom-engineered digital optimization platform for Virtual Power Plants, part of the HMAX Energy portfolio. Acting as an intelligent orchestration layer between physical assets and operational control, it combines AI, deep grid engineering, and advisory expertise to help operators forecast, optimize, dispatch and monetize distributed energy resources.
How VirtuPlan optimizes distributed energy assets
One system. Multiple services. Continuously optimized.
VirtuPlan coordinates your assets so they deliver across multiple grid and market services – reliably, at the right time and within their real operating limits.
- Coordinates assets as one system
- Balances operational constraints and market signals
- Automates dispatch and optimization
How VirtuPlan works
VirtuPlan combines advanced optimization algorithms with Hitachi Energy’spower system and market expertise to determine how each asset should be coordinated and dispatched within the system.
It continuously processes data from assets, grid conditions, and market signals and calculates dispatch decisions that maximize performance while respecting technical constraints.
These decisions are executed through the control system (e.g. SCADA), ensuringthe portfolio performs reliably across grid and market requirements—whether integrated with Hitachi Energy or third‑party control systems, or used as an independent layer to assess and improve system performance.
VirtuPlan in action
From flexibility to coordination and reliable dispatch
The real problem is not lack of assets or DER capacity, but the challenge in making them reliable, predictable and dispatchable under real grid and market conditions.
And even more sharply:
- coordinating increasing heterogeneous assets
- under evolving grid, market and operational constraints
- timely and in a way that operators can trust
Most tools assume standardization. Real systems are not standard.
The solution needs to be…
- Customized to each system
- Built on OT-grade reality
- Reflects real asset behavior
- Produces actionable dispatch
- Integrates new assets and markets
- Adapts to regulatory changes
- Integrates with Hitachi Energy and third‑party SCADA systems
- Can be deployed alongside existing platforms
- Enables improvement of existing VPP solutions
Beyond aggregation: the engineering challenge behind Virtual Power Plants
Read expert insights on the engineering challenges and technologies that enable virtual power plants to orchestrate distributed energy resources at scale.
Benefits of VirtuPlan for energy systems
Higher asset utilization
Reduced curtailment
Access to new revenue streams
Reliable, compliant operation
Where VirtuPlan applies
Energy companies managing and aggregating distributed assets
Renewable and storage portfolio owners
Industrial and commercial companies with flexible energy demand
Operators of distributed energy infrastructure (e.g. EV charging, microgrids)
Energy investors and portfolio operators
Our experts on VirtuPlan
The people behind VirtuPlan
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
VirtuPlan™ is Hitachi Energy's custom-engineered virtual power plant (VPP) solution, part of the HMAX Energy portfolio. It orchestrates distributed energy resources - BESS, solar, wind, flexible loads - into a single optimized VPP that participates in energy and ancillary markets. Deployed with Power Consulting support, from feasibility to live dispatch.
OT-grade (operational technology grade) means VirtuPlan solution's control layer meets the same reliability, security and fault-tolerance standards as physical grid infrastructure. For interacting with grid operators and utilities, OT-grade VPP control is a procurement requirement for systems integrated with critical grid infrastructure.
VirtuPlan orchestrates any combination of behind the meter battery energy storage (BESS), solar PV, wind, flexible industrial loads, EV charging and conventional generation. The architecture is asset-agnostic - it integrates with existing SCADA and asset management systems regardless of vendor or technology.
VirtuPlan targets simultaneous participation across day-ahead energy, intraday, frequency response, synthetic inertia and capacity markets. Fast dispatch calculation cycles enable participation in short-duration ancillary services - markets that require decisions in seconds and offer higher revenue per MW of flexible capacity.
Hitachi Energy's four-stage methodology - policy mapping, interoperability, pilot, scaling - is designed to compress deployment from feasibility to live dispatch. Timeline depends on assets to be connected, portfolio complexity, market products targeted and regulatory approval requirements in the specific jurisdiction.
VirtuPlan is a custom-engineered solution, not a standard SaaS subscription. Design and engineering are tailored to each customer's asset mix, grid connection characteristics and market participation strategy. This reflects the position that successful VPP deployment requires consulting-led customization and power system expertise — not only optimization solution.
VirtuPlan is currently being rolled out globally with priority markets in China, Europe, the United States and India. VirtuPlan was first commercially deployed in China, with reference customers including Zhejiang Energy Group, China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG), etc. Contact Hitachi Energy's regional Power Consulting team for current availability.
Commercial deployments in China include Zhejiang Energy Group and China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) and more. These provide performance validation on a commercial scale in a market characterized by high renewable penetration, active ancillary service markets and rigorous grid code requirements.
VirtuPlan supports on-premises system management, giving customers control over their own cybersecurity architecture without routing data through third-party cloud infrastructure. This meets the requirements of grid operators and utilities subject to critical infrastructure protection (CIP) regulations.
Hitachi Energy offers VirtuPlan demonstrations and 15-minute introductory calls. You can watch the webinar on demand or request a demo via the website. Just reach out, we are happy to support you!
Ready to transform DERs into profit centers and accelerate net-zero goals?
Contact Hitachi Energy today for a customized VirtuPlan consultation – where innovation meets sustainability.