{"id":93906,"date":"2025-08-15T05:18:23","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T19:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=93906"},"modified":"2025-08-15T17:00:48","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T07:30:48","slug":"ven-virtual-energy-network-mb3248","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/ven-virtual-energy-network-mb3248\/","title":{"rendered":"Virtual Energy Networks: A VPP Alternative"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Virtual<\/p>\n

If the idea of handing control of your home battery over to a Virtual Power Plant operator (VPP) doesn’t appeal to you, perhaps participating in a Virtual Energy Network (VEN) will.<\/p>\n

The buzz about VPPs is building given the national Cheaper Home Batteries program<\/a> requires batteries installed under the scheme to be VPP capable; although joining one isn’t compulsory. But VEN programs remain mostly out of the limelight.<\/p>\n

The Difference Between A VPP And VEN<\/h2>\n

A Virtual Power Plant (VPP) is a system that aggregates and centrally controls a group of distributed energy resources such as solar panels and batteries to function like a single power plant. The VPP operator decides when to discharge participating batteries into the grid and when to charge them, in return providing some sort of benefit to the party hosting the battery. You can learn more about the pros and cons of Virtual Power Plants here<\/a>, and compare VPP programs here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A Virtual Energy Network (VEN) virtually connects energy consumers and producers such as solar\/battery system owners through an online platform, allowing them to share or trade energy within a community, enterprise, or ecosystem (peer-to-peer trading).<\/p>\n

There are a few VENs operating in Australia such as Enosi Powertracer via Energy Locals and LocalVolts; so let’s take a look at those.<\/p>\n

Powertracer VEN<\/h2>\n

Energy Locals teamed up with Enosi to offer the Powertracer platform<\/a> in the ACT, NSW, QLD, SA and VIC. It enables members to buy or trade excess solar energy generation with other members of the Energy Locals Powertracer community. The idea is producers (solar owners) can get more for their exports by setting the price for that electricity, and consumers pay less than usual retailer rates for that electricity.<\/p>\n

Energy Locals\u2019 rates and feed-in-tariffs under its Local Member plan apply when there are no available trading partners. In my case, at the time of writing, that would be a Time of Use (ToU) plan:<\/p>\n