谷歌将为伏特斯在PJM电网上运营的一个1吉瓦虚拟电厂提供资金，以供应其在该地区运营所需的容量。两家公司周四表示，这项协议在双方6月商定的100兆瓦基础上，新增了1070兆瓦。
Google will fund a 1 gigawatt virtual power plant run by Voltus on the PJM grid, to supply capacity for its operations there. The deal adds 1,070 megawatts to the 100 megawatts the two agreed in June, the companies said on Thursday.
PJM电网服务横跨13个州和哥伦比亚特区的6700万客户。两家公司称，这批新增容量是超大规模数据中心运营商部署的最大已知分布式资产组合之一。
PJM serves 67 million customers across 13 states and the District of Columbia. The companies called the new capacity one of the largest known distributed portfolios a hyperscaler has deployed.
虚拟电厂如何运作 虚拟电厂没有涡轮机。伏特斯汇聚本地企业和家庭的闲置容量，谷歌为其买单。当电网承受压力时，伏特斯向这些站点发出信号，要求削减用电。它们通过电池、智能恒温器、工业流程调整和其他灵活设备来实现这一点。
How the plant works A virtual power plant has no turbines. Voltus pools spare capacity from local businesses and homes, and Google pays for it. When the grid is under strain, Voltus signals those sites to cut their power use. They do it with batteries, smart thermostats, changes to industrial processes and other flexible equipment.
随后，伏特斯将资金通过电费节省和直接付款的方式转给参与者。该计划在其“自带容量”项目下运行。两家公司引用了布拉特集团最近的一份报告。报告预测，通过更好地利用电网，美国消费者在未来十年可节省超过1000亿美元。
Voltus then passes the money on to the people taking part, through bill savings and direct payments. The scheme runs under its Bring Your Own Capacity programme. The companies cited a recent report from The Brattle Group. It predicts US consumers could save more than $100bn over the next decade by using the grid better.
谷歌美洲能源市场开发主管埃伦·扎克曼表示：“将我们最初的承诺扩大十倍，展示了我们积极为服务我们的电网贡献自身容量的核心努力。”
“Expanding our initial commitment tenfold demonstrates our core effort to actively bring our own capacity to the grids that serve us,” said Ellen Zuckerman, Google’s head of energy market development for the Americas.
她说，以这种方式购买容量意味着谷歌在PJM的运营支持了该地区的可靠性，同时也为当地社区带来了资金。
Buying the capacity this way means Google’s operations in PJM support the region’s reliability, she said. It also brings money to local communities.
数据中心与电网 这是谷歌本月达成的第二项大型电力交易。10月6日，谷歌与星座能源签署了一项为期20年、890兆瓦的核电协议。9月，谷歌与英伟达启动联盟，致力于让数据中心灵活调节用电。
Data centres and the grid It is Google’s second big power deal this month. It signed a 20-year agreement with Constellation for 890MW of nuclear power on 6 October. In September, Google and Nvidia launched an alliance to make data centres flex their power use.
伏特斯于10月8日完成了2.25亿美元的D轮融资。它将电池、现场发电、灵活负荷和电动汽车接入电力市场。
Voltus raised a $225 million Series D on 8 October. It connects batteries, on-site generation, flexible load and electric vehicles to electricity markets.
“我们与谷歌合作的这一重大扩展，将数据中心的增长转化为企业和家庭的直接经济利益，”Voltus首席执行官达娜·格恩西表示。
“This significant expansion of our work with Google translates data center growth into direct economic benefits for businesses and homes,” said Dana Guernsey, Voltus’s chief executive.