(Yicai Global) Dec. 19 -- The Shanghai municipal government is in the midst of trialing a virtual power plant designed to help the eastern metropolis make better use of its energy resources.

The city began testing the plant, built in tandem with the State Grid, on Dec. 5, The Paper reported yesterday. Four operators and 512 customers are involved in the trial, which is providing power for electric vehicle charging piles, industrial parks, commercial buildings, gas heating systems and solar energy storage.

A virtual power plant is a network of distributed power-generating resources that uses technology to precisely match supply with demand. This is the first such plant to trial in China, starting just six days before State Grid Jibei Electric Power began testing a similar system in Hebei province, according to a Xinhua News Agency report.

The Shanghai plant uses advanced Internet of Things technology to understand the equipment customers are using and aggregate idle power loads to more efficiently distribute power, according to the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economic and Informatization.

The trial so far has proven that the plant is a feasible power distribution solution and the municipal government and State Grid will work to improve the technologies to add more than 10,000 home users to the system, the commission added.

Editor: James Boynton