Vehicle-to-Grid
Can bi-directionally chargeable batteries in electric vehicles help to keep the power grid stable? TenneT is currently testing this in a joint pilot project with Nissan and The Mobility House.
Challenges inherent to the energy transition
The changed generation structure and the growing share of renewable energies in the electricity grid pose a major challenge to security of supply: Increasingly, grid operators are having to intervene because increasingly volatile power generation has to be balanced against power consumption, for example when large amounts of wind power from the north push into the lines. With costly consequences for consumers.
Need for storage facilities
One way of balancing out fluctuations in energy generation from renewable energies, i.e. solar power and wind energy, is to use electricity storage. Even though much is already being discussed and researched into storage options, there are currently no large electricity storage facilities available that could absorb or feed electricity into the grid depending on the situation.
The pilot project
In spring 2018, TenneT, the energy service provider The Mobility House and the automobile manufacturer Nissan launched a joint pilot project to investigate whether electric cars can contribute to solving this problem. In addition, proposals for regulatory guidelines for the "Vehicle-to-Grid" concept will be developed and evaluated.
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TenneT Cooperation Project Grid Stabilization - Vehicle 2 Grid
TenneT, The Mobility House and Nissan are using the potential of electric vehicle batteries in the pilot project to store locally produced electricity and feed it back into the grid to stabilise the grid. As a first step, this will be tested on Nissan Leafs used in the TenneT service groups.
First results are expected in the first quarter of 2019. During the project phase, Nissan electric vehicles will be used in the TenneT control area in northern and southern Germany as mobile energy storage systems to directly reduce local overloads in the power supply and demand.
After a successful pilot phase, Nissan electric vehicles could stabilize the network throughout Germany. The intelligent charging and energy management software developed by The Mobility House enables automated control of the charging and discharging process. The most important prerequisite for this is the ability to charge in two directions, i.e. that electric vehicles not only draw energy from the grid, but can also feed it back into the grid when required.