Building Virtual Power Plant State Machine with an Energy Company

Amalgam architects and builds the MVP that powers virtual power plants

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Introduction

A U.S.-based energy startup embarked on their mission to democratize sustainable energy for renters and landlords by installing and operating virtual power plants. These virtual power plants manage storage in batteries and energy distribution to the various loads in the building while at the same time selling excess energy to the local grid. The company partnered with amalgam to architect and build the state machine infrastructure behind their virtual power plants. The work done by amalgam enabled the company to execute against their vision and optimally operate their virtual power plants.

Challenge

The primary challenge for the client was their inability to build their virtual power plants with technology experts with their limited resources as a startup
With limited resources the client was unable to:

  • Create their MVP in a cost-effective way

  • Go to market quickly

  • Take advantage of best-in-class architects and builders

Approach

Amalgam's approach included:
  • Solution Architecture:  current vision and roadmap of the architecture behind the virtual power plants
  • Creation of telemetry logic and key data structures: Amalgam built the company’s MVP using a microservices design. The MVP allows the company and its vendors to read and manage distributed energy resources. The architecture is powered by a Python codebase and several AWS services such as AWS Kinesis, AWS Lambda, and PostgreSQL.
  • Creation of Management Dashboard: Amalgam created a management dashboard using the react.js framework for reporting and to inform daily operations using a contemporary UX/UI design.
  • Continued Partner Build: Amalgam continues to be the company’s sole development partner for all of their technological needs.
Business Capabilities:
  • Ability to sell excess energy to the local grids with optimized pricing: Amalgam created business logic that facilitates the sale of excess, stored energy to the local grids 
  • Ability to manage and operate the portfolio of virtual power plants: Amalgam developed a user-friendly dashboard that easy management of distributed energy resource operations
  • Ability to create reports for landlords and the local grids: Amalgam worked with the client to build intuitive reporting for the company and their partners

Results

By delivering and continuing to build on the company’s MVP, the company was able to raise $130MM to date. Amalgam continues to help build the company’s mission as the sole development partner of the company
Team Size
x 4
Timeline
7 months

Designed and built telemetry infrastructure to manage energy flows and transactions

Created management reporting to showcase results inform daily operations

Created data architecture to manage and analyze DER data

Created security and backup protocols for key data