Grid congestion

ElaadNL: ‘Home bi-directional charging could soon greatly relieve power grid’

Gemiddeld kan een huishouden zo 1 tot 2 kilowatt terugleveren tijdens piekuren.

Home bi-directional charging, where electric cars not only draw power but also feed it back to the grid, could play an important role in relieving the burden on the grid in the future. This is according to the report ‘Bidirectional charging: which way is it heading?’ by knowledge and innovation centre ElaadNL.

In the report, ElaadNL researchers examined the current situation around bi-directional charging and its potential to support the power grid. They focused mainly on electric cars and vans that are charged and discharged at home. According to them, this is the form of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) that can grow the fastest. Nineteen per cent of the charging demand for passenger cars is now expected to be charged with their own home charger and is nine per cent for vans.

People using V2G at home are likely to try to save money, the researchers report. They charge their car when power is cheap, feed power back to the grid when the price is high, and use as much power as possible from their own solar panels. This creates a different charging pattern from ordinary chargers: during the busy evening hours, the cars actually deliver power back to the grid, and charging shifts mainly to the night, when there is less demand. This helps the power grid. On average, this allows a household to feed back one to two kilowatts during peak hours, and in some cases up to 11 kilowatts per car, the report says.

Impact

Combining these expectations with the growth of electric mobility and a full switch to V2G in 2050, the researchers say, gives a picture of the impact of V2G at home. If in 2050 all cars charge bi-directionally, home chargers could collectively feed back about 4.5 gigawatts of power. By comparison, the current highest power consumption in a day is about 22 gigawatts. According to Netbeheer Nederland, that could rise to between 47 and 62 gigawatts by 2050.

There are also opportunities in other places, such as at public charging stations and with delivery vehicles at business parks. A trial with 50 bi-directional shared cars in Utrecht showed that together they could feed back almost 200 kilowatts of power. This proves that the technology works and can support the power grid, reports the report.

Obstacles

According to the researchers, however, V2G is currently not yet possible on a large scale, mainly because there are not yet clear technical agreements on communication between cars, charging stations and other systems in the home, such as heat pumps and solar panels. Standardised communication is essential here.

In addition, clear rules are needed on who is responsible for what in the V2G system. Because a car not only takes off electricity but also feeds it back, different rules apply than for normal charging. European rules on this are not yet final. As a result, some companies are waiting to release products.

In conclusion, it appears that V2G has a lot of potential, but that important steps still need to be taken before this technique can be applied on a large scale.

ElaadNL’s full report can be downloaded here.

Also read:

This article was automatically translated from the Dutch language original to English (British).

Author: Nina Koelewijn

Source: MobilityEnergy.com

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