The collaboration will enable seamless participation in wholesale energy markets.

enercity contributes a broad portfolio of electricity and heat generation assets, while Kraken provides the technological infrastructure and expertise in aggregating decentralised assets and delivering seamless market access across Europe. Through this partnership, Kraken further strengthens its position as a provider of digital infrastructure that supports the energy transition.

As renewable energy continues to expand across the electricity and heating sectors, the number of decentralised generation assets is steadily increasing, driving up the complexity of market participation. At present, however, trading options for decentralised assets remain limited in Germany. This is due in part to fragmented IT landscapes and the absence of end-to-end digital processes among market participants. As a result, smaller generation assets in particular are frequently excluded from flexibility markets and short-term trading opportunities.

“In a dynamic and multifunctional energy landscape, efficient control mechanisms are essential” said Jean-Baptiste Cornefert, Head of Trading & Energy Markets at enercity. “Without digital processes, real-time data, automated forecasting, and intelligent algorithms, this level of complexity cannot be managed. Anyone aiming to succeed in the energy market must combine digital expertise with deep energy industry expertise. VPPs are therefore not only a technical tool, but a central element of the transformation toward a resilient and efficient energy system.”

An energy system built on decentralised solutions must operate as safely and efficiently as a single large-scale power plant. In this context, the VPP becomes the central nervous system of the energy transition, combining the capacities of diverse assets into a critical mass, capable of participating effectively in electricity markets.

“As renewable build-out picks up pace across Europe, the challenge facing us today is one of coordination, not capacity” added Charlotte Johnson, General Manager of Flexibility at Kraken. “By orchestrating distributed assets as a single, intelligent system, Kraken balances the grid and enables better use of cheap, abundant, clean energy. Together with enercity, we’re building a smarter, more flexible energy system for Germany.”

Going forward, the VPP will cover the entire value chain: from the highly automated onboarding of assets, to their real-time optimisation and continuous monitoring of individual asset profitability, through to seamless market access. It thus creates the foundation for a range of salable business models. These include direct access to wholesale energy markets, the optimisation and flexibility trading of battery storage systems, participation in the balancing mechanism, and the intelligent integration of electricity and heat generation, such as in the optimisation of combined heat and power (CHP) systems for district heating.

“A modern virtual power plant seamlessly integrates electricity and heat” added Mr Cornerfert. “It decides in real time whether electricity should be marketed directly, stored temporarily in batteries, or converted into thermal energy via power-to-heat. This addresses the core challenge posed by volatility: making energy available when the market needs it. The virtual power plant is therefore at the heart of sector coupling.”

For additional information:

enercity

Kraken