Flagship platform
The Virtual
Energy Network
Beyond a Virtual Power Plant. The VEN lets energy generated or stored at one site be shared across other sites and members — turning many separate connections into one coordinated energy system.
Beyond a battery
A Virtual Power Plant dispatches a battery. A Virtual Energy Network shares the energy itself — across every site that joins it.
Most sites still source energy one connection at a time: their own contract, their own solar, their own bill. The VEN profiles each site and links them, so surplus generation and stored energy flow to where they’re needed — and the grid becomes a top-up rather than the default.
From site-by-site to networked
Three ways energy gets sourced
Traditional sourcing
Every site buys energy from the grid on its own contract. Solar, if any, only ever offsets the site that generated it — surplus is wasted or exported for cents.
Integrated VEN
Sites are profiled and connected as one system. Surplus generation and stored energy move between them through the network — the grid becomes a top-up, not the default.
Community participant
The same network extends beyond the founding sites — local businesses, social housing and residents join as members, sharing in clean generation and lower-cost energy.
Storage, networked
Power generated once, used wherever it’s needed
Storage is the start, not the end. A battery on one site holds power; the VEN decides where that power does the most good — discharging to a neighbouring site, supporting a member through a peak, or holding reserve for the whole network.
What’s in the platform
The building blocks of a network
Detailed site energy profiling
We map how, when and where every site generates and consumes energy — the foundation the whole network is optimised against.
Metering, monitoring & control
Hardware and software that meter generation and load in real time and actively route energy to where it's needed.
Existing solar + new generation
Your installed solar PV keeps working, and new generation and storage are added where the network benefits most.
Net-zero acceleration
Sharing clean energy across sites displaces grid draw and emissions, moving measurable progress toward net-zero targets.
Community participation
Extend the network to local business, social housing and residents — turning a single precinct into shared infrastructure.
Finance options
Flexible funding structures mean the network can be delivered without the capital sitting on your balance sheet.
Community energy participant
A network the whole community can join
A VEN doesn’t stop at the fence line. Local businesses, social housing and residents can join as members — sharing in clean generation and lower-cost energy, and turning a single precinct’s investment into shared community infrastructure.
Proven in operation
The Port of Brisbane runs on a Virtual Energy Network
At one of Australia’s largest ports, a Virtual Energy Network coordinates energy across operations rather than site-by-site — the proof that networked sourcing works at industrial scale. ReThink Sustainability delivers the VEN with specialist energy partners.
- 1
- Port-scale deployment
- Multi‑site
- Shared, not site-by-site
- Net zero
- Targets accelerated
Delivered with
We design and coordinate each Virtual Energy Network with a network of specialist energy partners — from generation and storage to metering, contracting and finance.
- Circle Energy
- Leading Edge Energy
- carbonTRACK
- Verdia
- Promentor
- Electro Data & Generation
Answers
Virtual Energy Network questions
What is a Virtual Energy Network?
A Virtual Energy Network (VEN) is an energy-management platform that lets surplus energy generated or stored at one site be consumed at other sites — or by other members of the network. Instead of every site sourcing energy on its own, many sites operate as a single coordinated generation, storage and distribution system.
How is a VEN different from a Virtual Power Plant (VPP)?
A Virtual Power Plant aggregates and dispatches battery storage from individual sites back to the grid. A Virtual Energy Network goes further: it routes excess generation and stored energy directly between sites and members, so the network optimises its own supply first and only draws on the grid to top up. It is a networked sourcing model, not just a battery-dispatch tool.
Can a VEN use our existing solar?
Yes. A VEN builds on pre-existing rooftop and ground-mount solar PV and adds new generation, storage, and the metering, monitoring and control layer needed to coordinate them. Existing assets that were only ever offsetting a single site can begin contributing to the whole network.
Who can participate in a Virtual Energy Network?
Commercial and industrial sites, ports, councils and corporates form the core of a network, and participation can extend to community partners — local businesses, social housing and residential members — who share in clean generation and lower-cost energy.
Has the Virtual Energy Network been proven in operation?
Yes. A Virtual Energy Network has been applied at the Port of Brisbane, demonstrating shared energy across port operations rather than site-by-site sourcing. ReThink Sustainability delivers the VEN with specialist energy partners.
Could your sites be a network?
If you run more than one site — or a precinct, port or portfolio — there’s likely unrealised energy value moving between them. Let’s map it.