Grid technology currently available is projected to fulfill approximately 95% of anticipated load growth.

The energy sector is facing a significant challenge with the three main companies supplying gas turbines - GE Vernova, Siemens Energy, and Mitsubishi Power - reporting delivery backlogs due to increased demand and long lead times, which can extend to four years or more.

This issue is particularly pressing as gas has become the first-choice technology to fill new load growth caused by electrification, onshoring of manufacturing, and a boom in data centers for artificial intelligence. The demand for gas turbines is high, making it hard to find one.

However, the situation is not all doom and gloom. The increased demand for gas is out of step with the reality of supply chain constraints, but there are alternatives that can help meet the growing energy needs.

A new report by the think tank RMI has highlighted the potential of Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) in meeting the demand. VPPs involve combining distributed energy resources for better grid flexibility, and they are uniquely suited to the urgency and uncertainty of load growth due to their ability to scale rapidly.

Companies like LineVision are seeing opportunities to partner with utility customers and the utilities themselves as momentum picks up for VPPs. The new CEO of DLR, Vishal Kapadia, stated that once major energy users like data centers are aware that DLR can unlock unused grid capacity, it can be leveraged with established utility relationships to create more demand for the product.

The study found that existing clean energy and demand response solutions can meet more than 95% of expected load growth. Scaling up VPPs could bring benefits such as reducing spending on peaker plants, mitigating transmission backlogs, and saving $10 billion in annual grid costs, per the 2023 VPP liftoff report.

The Department of Energy's 2024 "liftoff" report on innovative grid technologies found that technologies like advanced conductors, dynamic line ratings, and VPPs could support up to 100 GW of incremental peak demand, but deployment was slow at the time.

However, there is a lack of consensus about how best to scale VPPs. The researchers suggest incorporating energy efficiency, VPPs, GETs, clean repowering, and hybrid "power couples" into utility and system operator plans to reduce exposure to turbine shortages, maintain reliability, and shield customers from cost shocks.

Utilities and independent power providers are projected to double the recent rate of construction for the rest of the decade. The average capacity additions are projected to jump from 9 GW per year between 2010 and 2024, to 19 GW per year starting this year.

Despite the challenges, the future of the energy sector looks promising with the rise of innovative solutions like VPPs. The sector is moving towards a more sustainable and flexible grid, and it's an exciting time to be a part of this transition.