Green Voltis Completes Multi-Million Dollar Angel Round Financing, Accelerating the Development of Virtual Power Plants in Europe with AI Technology | Exclusive on 36Kr.
Author | Lin Qingqing
Editor | Yuan Silai
36Kr has learned that recently, the European virtual power plant enterprise Green Voltis announced the successful completion of its angel round of financing, with an amount of nearly 10 million US dollars. This round of financing is led by CCV, with participation from Yunqi Partners and Jihe Ventures. This financing will be mainly used for technological innovation and market expansion of the AI Native virtual power plant.
Green Voltis is an AI Native virtual power plant aggregation operator focused on the European market. Through AI native technology, spot electricity trading, and participation in grid ancillary services, it provides intelligent and efficient flexible trading and operation solutions for power market participants such as new energy asset holders such as energy storage, industrial and commercial customers, and electricity sales agents. At the same time, Green Voltis also helps infrastructure investment funds with in-depth cooperation to carry out project development and asset investment in Europe.
Currently, as the world transitions to low-carbon and renewable energy, the stability and efficiency of the power grid are facing new challenges. The continuous transformation of grid ancillary services and spot electricity trading is the most efficient way to reshape the balance between the power generation curve and the load curve at different stages, and also puts higher requirements on the operation of new energy assets (especially energy storage). The virtual power plant is a new type of power resource aggregation model. It links distributed new energy resources such as solar energy, wind energy, as well as load and energy storage devices such as charging piles and heat pumps through a software platform and algorithm strategy to realize power trading and operation, enhance asset value, and thereby objectively promote the sustainable development of renewable energy.
Imagine if the solar panels, wind turbines, and even battery energy storage in every household could be pieced together like Lego blocks and be commanded by an intelligent brain, ensuring the stability of the power grid while achieving the optimal solution for power generation and load. What kind of scene would that be? The virtual power plant is like this intelligent brain. It is not a power plant in the traditional sense, with no chimneys or large units, but a platform that uses high technology to integrate energy resources scattered in various places for intelligent management and scheduling.
The core of the virtual power plant lies in its flexibility and efficiency. It can play three key roles in the power system: First, as a provider of grid ancillary services (including frequency regulation, voltage regulation, etc.), it helps the grid to maintain balance and stability; second, it participates in the spot electricity market and obtains benefits through accurate electricity price prediction and trading; third, in the balancing market, it ensures that the supply and demand of electricity are precisely matched in a short period of time, helping power generation and sales parties avoid fines due to the imbalance between supply and demand. In short, the virtual power plant is like the conductor of the power world, making every bit of electricity exert its maximum value.
Currently, the energy structure in Europe is accelerating the transition to renewable energy. The intermittency and instability of these energies require a more flexible grid management method; secondly, European countries have a strong awareness of environmental protection, and policies are also promoting the use of green energy. Closing nuclear power plants and reducing reliance on fossil fuels further increase the demand for renewable energy; in addition, the price fluctuations in the European spot market are becoming larger and larger, and the proportion of electricity spot trading for electricity sales companies has rapidly increased from relying on long-term agreements to purchase electricity.
Relevant person in charge of the Green Voltis team introduced that currently, the frequency modulation benefits in some areas of Europe are very considerable, but in the future, the value created by energy storage will be the real-time multi-market optimization scenario of the ancillary service market such as frequency modulation, capacity, and balance, and the spot trading market.
Since its establishment in Europe, the Green Voltis team has built a solution based on the AI Native platform architecture and with the goal of real-time multi-market optimization. The relevant person in charge told 36Kr, "Compared with the auxiliary service operation mainly focused on frequency modulation, multi-market optimization is the core to truly realize 'Energy + AI'. Therefore, compared with the frequency modulation virtual power plant aggregator, the industry knowledge and technical iteration ability of our team can bring a significant improvement in the operation efficiency and rate of return of the virtual power plant."
From the perspective of the business model, the operation of Green Voltis mainly focuses on providing virtual power plant services. The company manages and optimizes new energy assets before and after the meter, such as energy storage systems and power generation equipment, through software and artificial intelligence technology. It participates in the electricity market to achieve economic benefits through spot trading and balancing market operations, while providing necessary ancillary services to the power grid.
"Green Voltis does not directly own power assets, but cooperates with station holders to share benefits by providing efficient operation services. In short, Green Voltis optimizes power resource management through technology-driven services, participates in market transactions, and shares success with partners. Some Infra funds that hold European new energy assets have already started substantive cooperation with us to jointly develop new energy projects. Although it will take a certain period, the long-term rate of return and shareholder return of such projects will be higher." The relevant person in charge of Green Voltis said.
In terms of the team, the core team of Green Voltis comes from top enterprises in Europe and China. It has established a well-structured team with rich experience in the fields of energy trading and algorithm development. Members all have the endorsement of top companies, have many years of experience going overseas and in the overseas energy circle, and have a deep understanding of the access standards and power market trading products in various European countries.
Investor Views:
Zhou Wei, the founding managing partner of CCV, the leading investor, said: "We always focus on cutting-edge innovations in the directions of intelligence, greening, and globalization. In the context of the global energy structure transformation, Green Voltis, with its deep professional knowledge in energy trading and its self-developed AI Native virtual power plant solution, not only excels in improving energy management efficiency but also leads the digital transformation in key areas such as the ancillary service market and the electricity trading market. We firmly believe that Green Voltis' core technology and forward-looking insights endow it with the strong potential to drive the comprehensive transformation of the industry. CCV looks forward to working with Green Voltis to jointly promote the digital transformation and sustainable growth of the European energy industry, embrace new opportunities driven by technological innovation, and create a more intelligent and greener future."
Feng Yao, the managing director of Yunqi Partners, said: "Yunqi Partners has always been focused on investing in high-tech innovative enterprises that drive industry progress, and Green Voltis is an outstanding representative. Green Voltis uses AI Native technology to not only subvert the traditional energy management model but also bring intelligence into the operation of the virtual power plant, achieving more accurate and efficient power dispatch. This technology-driven solution provides a solid support for the green transformation while improving energy use efficiency. We believe that Green Voltis' innovation will continue to drive profound changes in the energy industry and contribute to the global march towards a sustainable future."
Wang Xiao, the founder of Jihe Ventures, said: "Under the influence of the European energy structure adjustment and the energy crisis, energy storage and virtual power plants are two structural opportunities. Green Voltis has independently developed a localized energy router and cloud platform in Europe, with distributed energy storage as the main battlefield, providing energy storage system solutions, obtaining the operation rights of load-side energy storage equipment, and participating in the European virtual power plant trading. At the same time, the team has the know-how of power trading and frequency modulation service strategy algorithms and rich European project operation experience. We expect the company to be able to rely on the Chinese supply chain and AI native technology in the future to export energy storage equipment to the world and take over from Chinese enterprises to participate in the virtual power plant operation after the delivery of energy storage hardware. Jihe continues to be optimistic about innovation opportunities in the intersection of AI and energy and other fields, as well as the global trend of Chinese enterprises, and firmly supports outstanding head entrepreneurs in the industry."