What to do if you're in a virtual power plant (VPP) before you join Amber (+ clues to tell if you're part of a VPP if you're unsure)

A virtual power plant (VPP) is a collection of individual home batteries that are collectively directed to inject renewable energy into the grid from keep the network stable.

• If you're already in an existing virtual power plant (VPP) when joining Amber, your battery is already being directed by another provider.
• This can delay your battery onboarding and how long it takes for you to start seeing the benefits of being a part of Amber for Batteries. 

We suggest that if you intend to join Amber (and have a compatible battery), you should unenrol from your current VPP as soon as possible. 

To do this, you will need to:

• Request that your current VPP provider unenrolls your battery.
• When emailing your provider, you can ask to be "unenrolled" or "unbound" from their VPP's control.

Once requested, this unenrolment should take a few days to complete. 

Once you're unenrolled

If you've already initiated your Amber sign up before you unenroll from your existing VPP:

• We will automatically continue onboarding your battery once we detect that your battery is now free from the control of the other VPP provider

If you complete this step before you start signing up to Amber:

• You can now initiate your sign up to Amber.

Unsure if you're in a VPP? Here are a few clues

It's possible you can be signed up for a VPP and not know. This relates to the lack of transparency that plagues traditional VPP programs.

One way to check if you're currently enrolled in a VPP is to look in your battery's app:

• Check to see if you are currently exporting to the grid or charging from the grid.
• Only batteries that are a part of a VPP (or Amber) have this grid connectivity, so if you're already doing this prior to joining Amber, this is one way of knowing you're in a VPP.

If you are enrolled in a VPP and you'd like to join Amber, simply follow the steps described above to get unenrolled from that VPP either before or immediately after sign up. 

If you have any questions, please reach out to our team on info@amber.com.au.

For a reminder about the differences between Amber and traditional VPPs, check out our explainer here.