CHANGZHOU, China, Aug. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — This summer, persistent high temperatures have driven Changzhou’s power grid load to record highs. To mobilize flexible loads for peak-load support, State Grid Changzhou Power Supply Company recently organized a large-scale real-world dispatch exercise for virtual power plants (VPPs) and a dedicated vehicle-to-grid (V2G) discharge campaign. Leveraging the new-type power load management system, these initiatives tested the large-scale aggregation and hour-level rapid response capabilities of load-side resources, including charging and swapping facilities and virtual power plants.
Recently, the Changzhou Municipal Power Load Management Center organized 17 virtual power plants for a centralized real-world dispatch exercise, with a declared adjustable capacity of approximately 164,400 kW. During the preparatory phase, the load-side resource management platform—developed under the leadership of Changzhou Power Supply Company—conducted real-time simulations based on the city’s overall power supply-demand balance and localized grid overload risks. The platform prioritized the assignment of adjustment tasks to heavily loaded grid areas and automatically generated precise, tiered dispatch plans. On the day of the exercise, after the dispatch instructions were issued, each VPP operator broke down the tasks to their aggregated users, who coordinated their responses through means such as discharging user-side energy storage systems and adjusting flexible loads. The maximum actual response load reached 214,800 kW. Changzhou Power Supply Company complemented the effort with effective response subsidy incentives per kilowatt-hour, fully mobilizing market entities to proactively participate in the response without disrupting normal business operations.
During the evening peak demand period, Changzhou Power Supply Company also collaborated with the Municipal Development and Reform Commission to conduct a dedicated V2G discharge campaign. Notably, the Changzhou Municipal Development and Reform Commission introduced a special incentive mechanism, offering a government subsidy of RMB 3 per kilowatt-hour based on actual reverse discharge volume. The campaign coordinated 13 public V2G stations and 8 bidirectional battery-swapping stations for simultaneous discharge, with a total of 208 new-energy vehicles participating and an accumulated discharge of 19,000 kWh. This effectively unlocked the mobile energy storage potential of new-energy vehicles, providing flexible support for peak shaving during the evening peak load period.
