VIRTUAL POWER PLANT CONTROLS

Virtual power plant controls

Control every battery individually and dispatch the whole fleet as one resource, from your utility control room or from the Fractal VPP Controller in the cloud. The same advanced controls run on every site.

Two ways to run a VPP

Your control room or ours

What separates the two architectures is where dispatch authority sits. Fractal EMS supports both on the same platform, and either way every asset stays individually controllable.

Option 1

Your SCADA runs the VPP

Fractal integrates every site into your SCADA, EMS or DERMS
Real-time control and telemetry over ICCP (TASE.2); non-real-time over IEEE 2030.5; DNP3 at the site
Your control room enables the VPP and holds dispatch authority
Best when the utility already has a control room and DERMS.
Option 2

Fractal runs the control layer

The Fractal VPP Controller sits above the fleet, with fleet dispatch from the Fractal HMI
Single-button dispatch of the whole portfolio, or any one asset
Connects to any dispatching entity, trader or BRP over MQTT and APIs through a cloud VPC
Built for day-ahead and real-time trading, including European markets.

What fleet dispatch does

Operator pressing a single dispatch button for the whole fleet

One button, or one asset

Bid and deliver capacity from the portfolio, with limits, availability and state of charge tracked across every site
Hold a system, substation or capacity-charge peak by discharging the right sites in the right order
Run a day-ahead position and still respond to real-time prices and balancing signals
Keep unit-level commands, mode changes and emergency stop on any single site, from the same screen
Target constrained substations and feeders to defer network upgrades
Record availability, state of charge and delivered output per site and per fleet as evidence behind every bid

Who is buying fleet dispatch

Fractal EMS HMI showing a fleet map and portfolio status

Utilities and cooperatives

Distribution-connected batteries are now procured as portfolios rather than one-off projects, to defer upgrades and cut transmission and capacity charges. Several 2026 programs put multiple sites under a single dispatch plan.

Traders and aggregators

Portfolio bidding needs one interface to many plants, with firm telemetry and limits behind every bid. In Europe, portfolios are bid day-ahead and into balancing as one unit.

How it works

Full controls at every site, one resource above them

Each site keeps a full Fractal EMS control stack. The Fractal VPP Controller presents the fleet as one resource and passes setpoints down through the Fractal Automatic Dispatch Service.

LEVEL 4Market & utility ICCP · IEEE 2030.5 · MQTT / APIs LEVEL 3Fleet control Cloud VPC · IPsec VPN LEVEL 2Site control DNP3 · Modbus TCP LEVEL 1Unit control Modbus TCP LEVEL 0ESS equipment Link lost · site runs on local controls Utility control roomSCADA · EMS · DERMS Trader / market partyDay-ahead · intraday · real time Fractal EMS HMI FRACTAL VPP CONTROLLERDER aggregator · fleet setpoints · SOC across every siteFractal Automatic Dispatch Service Site 01 · Site ControllerRTAC · firewall · switch Unit controller ESS PCS Unit controller ESS PCS Site 02 · Site ControllerRTAC · firewall · switch Unit controller ESS PCS Unit controller ESS PCS Site n · Site ControllerRTAC · firewall · switch Unit controller ESS PCS Unit controller ESS PCS ICCP · IEEE 2030.5 MQTT · APIs · cloud VPC Secure site links · IPsec VPN · · ·

Fleet and asset control

What the controls do, from plant setpoint to each PCS, and what happens when something drops out.

Single point of control

The Site Controller coordinates every PCS, BMS, meter and relay, and is the single interface to the dispatching entity.

SOC-aware allocation

Plant setpoints split across units by state of charge and limits, re-distributed instantly if a unit drops out.

Application stacks

Applications combine within site limits, enabled locally or remotely, switching in 1–2 seconds.

Control authority

An explicit Auto/Manual toggle decides whether the dispatcher or the local operator holds control.

Dispatch timing

Fleet setpoints update each second; device data and limits refresh continuously below.

When the link drops

Loss of comms is logged and the site re-allocates to healthy units, running on its own controls.

Case study · Wabash Valley Power Alliance

Twelve substation batteriesOne dispatch point

WVPA is building substation-scale batteries across its member systems. Every site has to answer WVPA dispatch like any other resource, hold power at its point of interconnection, protect itself when the link goes quiet, and still dispatch with the rest of the fleet.

12Utility-scale sites completed
5–10 MWPer site
40More projects under way
40 msDetection to command
WVPA utility-scale substation battery sites operated as one portfolio
Utility dispatch interface. DNP3 through the Fractal site RTAC, with ICCP (TASE.2) and IEEE 2030.5 for fleet dispatch.
Applications on every site. Active and reactive power dispatch, closed-loop POI control, dynamic P limiting and target state of charge.
Clear control authority. The Auto/Manual flag is published in telemetry, so the dispatcher sees who holds control before sending a setpoint.
SOC-aware allocation. Setpoints split by state of charge and re-distributed if a unit leaves Auto mode.

Adding a site to the fleet

A new site is configured on the existing VPP controller and tested before it goes live, with no change at the dispatcher's end.

1

Integrate

Site controls, meters, protection and network delivered and commissioned by Fractal.

2

Model

Site limits, applications and dispatch points configured and studied before go-live.

3

Connect

The site joins the VPP controller; interfaces to SCADA or the trading desk are tested end to end.

4

Dispatch

The new site appears in the fleet view and answers the same single dispatch command.

Proven experience

PortfolioScopeApplicationStatus
WVPA portfolio
Indiana		12 utility-scale sites of 5–10 MWEMS, power plant control and VPP dispatch across the fleet12 completed
Additional projects
North America		40 projects of similar scaleEMS and power plant control with VPP capabilityIn execution
European trader integration
Europe		Multi-project portfoliosCentral cloud dispatcher for day-ahead and real-time tradingIn development

One platform, every layer

Why Fractal EMS for your fleet

We design, supply, program, integrate and commission the whole controls scope, from site controls to fleet dispatch, with one point of accountability.

Hardware-agnostic fleet

One platform across mixed PCS, battery and meter vendors.

Market and SCADA interfaces

ICCP, IEEE 2030.5, DNP3, Modbus TCP and MQTT.

Applications that stack

40+ stackable applications, allocated per plant.

Evidence for every dispatch

Fleet-wide historian with settlement-grade records.

Cybersecure dispatch path

Built around NERC CIP, ISO 27001 and NIST 800-53.

Operated by people, 24/7

NERC CIP Medium ROC alerts within five minutes.

Talk to our sales engineers about your fleet
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Fractal EMSVIRTUAL POWER PLANT CONTROLS