Vertiv and CPower Energy integrate EnergyCore Grid BESS with VPP platform

Vertiv and CPower Energy said they formed a collaboration aimed at using Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and other on-site energy assets as grid resources for data centers. The effort focuses on accelerating speed-to-power and improving grid capacity while addressing facility resilience and asset productivity.

The companies said Vertiv integrated its Vertiv™ EnergyCore Grid BESS with CPower’s Virtual Power Plant (VPP) platform to support demand response and other grid services. CPower said its system enables demand response participation based on customers' business objectives and operational constraints. CPower also said it had paid more than $1.4 billion to demand response customers and partners since 2015.

Vertiv described the approach as turning behind-the-meter storage and other energy assets into grid resources through the VPP platform integration. In its first step, Vertiv and CPower worked to monetize a 1 Megawatt (MW) microgrid that combined BESS, solar, hydrogen fuel cell and Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems.

Vertiv said the microgrid project operated at Vertiv's Customer Experience Center in Ohio. The program generated demand response revenue, secured on-bill savings, and supported PJM. Vertiv also said it offset capital expenses by optimizing the performance of the microgrid's BESS across capacity, economic and ancillary services programs.

“With global data center power usage estimated to more than double between 2025 and 2030 and the bring your own power model in early adoption, data centers are signaling a clear willingness to leverage distributed generation and on-premise batteries to accelerate a path to unlock grid capacity today,” said Glenn Bogarde, chief sales and marketing officer, CPower. “We are focused on flexibility levers that are a reality for our customers, especially as new energy technologies and incentives become more pervasive across the United States.”