Lafarge: Distributed capacity procurement is essentially a utility-led VPP
Pierre Lafarge · Making DERs work for load growth · Jan 9, 2025 · at 15:27
Sparkfund CEO Pierre Lafarge explains how distributed capacity procurement (DCP) operates compared to traditional virtual power plants with Shayle Kann.
0:00 / 0:56exact quote · 56.6s
720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“We see the distributed capacity procurement concept as a part of the virtual power plant. Moment. I think a DCP is just one way to achieve that outcome. And the assets would be installed on customer locations. They're paid for by a utility as part of their infrastructure to run the grid. They are operated and dispatched by the utility. Whether, you know, there's a third party that has some subderms or a, you know, kind of an aggregator that then feeds into a utility derms, I think is an open question. So there's space for a couple layers of control probably, but ultimately it's the utility that needs to know when it needs capacity and of what type and make the decision to dispatch or absorb energy. And in that context you know, we think that a DCP is basically a utility-led VPP.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Pierre Lafarge
Lafarge: Doubling grid capacity is the baseline, not a high-end scenario
“Even if you haircut the forecast growth in data centers and manufacturing by 80 or 90%, you still double the grid. And something I think we need to say more as an industry is doubling the grid is not the high-end reference case here. It's not the sort of what …”
Lafarge: Most distributed capacity will be customer-sited with dual use
“Our view, or my view, is that it's more the later, the latter. That most of distributed Capacity will end up being customer cited and have some aspect of dual use, even if that dual use is, is primarily just a new way the grid functions.”
Lafarge: Data centers and manufacturers will pay for grid infrastructure upgrades
“Yes, I think that high load customers like manufacturing and data center operators can and will be a really big part of this moment in grid history. They will pay in Much of the incremental cost because of how they value time to power and total availability of…”
Lafarge: Vertically integrated utilities are best equipped to manage distributed capacity
“One of the reasons why utilities and particularly vertically integrated utilities are so well suited to this is that they are the grid operators that can see the whole darn grid at once transmission distribution and generation.”
Lafarge: EVs fell to third-biggest grid driver in just 24 months
“24 months ago, electric vehicles were the biggest driver of electrification growth, and now it's a distant third, and that happened stunningly quickly.”
Lafarge: Distributed capacity procurement extends century-old utility planning practices
“The first layer of a distributed capacity procurement is just asking a utility to be a utility, which is plan how much it needs to generate and move electricity where it needs it and what type of assets would do that and then go Buy them and put them into the …”