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This document specifies the technical requirements for the primary frequency regulation (PFR) function of virtual power plants (VPPs), including terminology, system architecture, aggregated equivalent modelling, performance parameters, control modes, communication, testing, and online monitoring and dynamic evaluation.
This document applies to VPPs as defined in IEC TS 63189-1:2023 that are connected to the power system.
The large-scale development and utilization of renewable energy represents an essential path toward global sustainable development. Globally, installed renewable energy capacity has been growing at an accelerating pace. However, the growth rate of grid regulation capacity has lagged far behind that of renewable energy installations. Combined with the inherent intermittency and volatility of renewable sources, this disparity has significantly impacted grid operation, resulting in pronounced supply–demand imbalances within the power system. In addition, the power system is increasingly characterized by weak support capability and low resilience, leading to continuous degradation of the physical foundation required for secure and stable operation. Consequently, the risk of system instability—and even large-scale blackouts—has become increasingly prominent, as demonstrated by recent power outages in both the United Kingdom and Spain.
Virtual Power Plants (VPPs), as a new type of regulation tool that aggregates distributed energy resources, have shown revolutionary progress in power system frequency regulation in recent years. Their core value lies in overcoming spatial and temporal constraints, enabling fragmented flexible resources—including distributed photovoltaic (PV) systems, behind-the-meter energy storage, electric vehicle charging stations, and industrial adjustable loads—to deliver millisecond-level coordinated responses through advanced communication and control architectures, and thereby provide rapid frequency regulation services to the grid.
Since Germany and five other countries launched the world's first VPP project in 2000, VPPs have, after more than two decades of development, achieved large-scale commercial deployment and demonstrated remarkable effectiveness in frequency regulation. Global experience indicates that VPPs have transitioned from technical demonstration to mature application in frequency regulation. Practical results from Europe, the United States, and China confirm their feasibility as alternatives to conventional regulation resources. Through their powerful aggregation capabilities, VPPs have substantially enhanced the utilization value of distributed resources, transforming individual charging stations, distributed energy storage systems, and commercial-building air-conditioning systems into "stabilizers" for grid frequency. This facilitates the evolution of the power system from 'generation follows load' to 'generation–load interaction', strengthening the overall regulation capability of the power system. With the maturation of V2G technology and breakthroughs in AIbased coordination algorithms, the frequency regulation services delivered by VPPs are expected to continue expanding. In 2025, China set a national target that by 2030 the adjustable capacity of VPPs will exceed 50 000 MW, providing economical, reliable, and green frequency security for power grids with high renewable energy penetration.
A comprehensive review of existing standards published by IEC, IEEE, ISO, and ITU, together with ongoing research projects, indicates that none currently address the full set of technical requirements for VPPs participating in power system frequency regulation. In particular, IEC TS 63189-1 establishes the conceptual framework and specifies frequency regulation requirements for VPPs, but does not provide normative technical specifications.
The purpose of this document is to establish a dedicated technical specification for the Primary Frequency Regulation (PFR) function of VPPs, taking into account their core characteristics: physically distributed and heterogeneous resources, communication-latency sensitivity, and logically aggregated indirect response. The specification ensures that a VPP, as an integrated entity, can participate in primary frequency response in an effective, reliable, and secure manner, thereby supporting frequency stability under high renewable energy penetration. In this context, while conventional thermal power plants and other traditional regulation resources continue to bear the fundamental obligation for PFR, VPPs deliver complementary fast-response support.
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