• • • ELECTRIC VEHICLES • • •
Electric Nation Vehicle to Grid announces first energy partner T
he Electric Nation Vehicle to Grid (V2G) trial, a project of Western Power Distribution (WPD) and CrowdCharge that will demonstrate how
electric vehicles (EVs) can provide V2G services, has announced Flexitricity as its first energy partner. Flexitricity aggregates lots of distributed power
generators as well as sites which consume power, in order to balance the load on the electricity grid. The EVs that are part of the Electric Nation trial will be used to put power back into the electricity grid when required and will be charged during periods of excess supply in the system. Flexitricity has 12 years of operational experience.
It was the first open-market demand response aggregator in Britain, the first company of its type to enter the GB Capacity Market, and the first electricity supplier to bring business energy customers into the Balancing Mechanism. The Balancing Mechanism is one of the main
tools National Grid ESO uses to balance supply and demand on the electricity system in real-time. Through the Balancing Mechanism, flexibility providers (such as Flexitricity) can offer to increase or decrease electricity generation or demand of their aggregated assets (e.g. connected EV V2G chargers) to adjust power levels to help balance the system. During the initial stages of the Electric Nation Vehicle to Grid project, Flexitricity will be simulating the conditions of the Balancing Mechanism to gather valuable data and explore the potential for EVs to contribute to this important energy system service. Demand Side Response or Demand Side Flexibility involves participants being financially incentivised to reduce or increase their energy use to provide flexibility to National Grid ESO or
Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) as and when they need it. As well as filling in for shortfalls or rapid spikes in national demand, providers taking part in demand side response can also be incentivised to use excess green energy from the grid, for example on a windy day. Aggregation of assets is the key to unlocking EV
flexibility as it allows assets with low capacity - such as EVs - to provide grid services. Electric Nation is different to other V2G projects
because it is using up to five different energy partners instead of just one. This means that the trial is a more realistic simulation of a future world in which many streets will have a number of EVs using V2G chargers with different energy suppliers. A selection of 25 applicants on the Electric
Nation V2G trial will be offered the opportunity to join the project with the Flexitricity and CrowdCharge ‘energy optimisation with grid services’ proposition. Within this proposition group, potential participants can join with any electricity supplier and on any electricity tariff. However, the best results will be gained from participants with a time of use and export tariff. EV drivers will inform the CrowdCharge platform to
state when they next need the car and how much energy they will need. The first priority for CrowdCharge is to ensure these requirements are met. People are often plugged in for over 12 hours overnight, yet they may only need 1-2 hours of charge on average each night. This allows considerable time and flexibility to fit in the EV charging. Andy Lowe, director at Flexitricity, comments:
“Flexitricity is pleased to be a flexibility optimisation partner for the Electric Nation V2G project. We are offering a pioneering opportunity for EV drivers to
18 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • NOVEMBER 2020
owners in the WPD licence areas of the Midlands, South West and South Wales to take part in the trial of Vehicle to Grid smart charging technology. Currently, only Nissan EVs can be used for V2G charging due to their CHAdeMO technology. The trial is offering free installation of the V2G
smart chargers worth £5,500 to Nissan EV drivers who live in the three WPD regions. CrowdCharge is recruiting 100 people for the trial to help DNOs and others to understand how V2G charging could work with their electricity networks. The V2G trial follows the first Electric Nation
project from 2018/19 which at the time was the world’s largest EV smart charging trial. The trial captured data from more than two million hours of car charging, providing real life insight into people’s habits when charging their vehicles. By plugging in at specified times and putting
energy back into the grid, active participants of the Electric Nation Vehicle to Grid project are expected to earn a minimum reward up to the monetary value of £120 over the one-year trial period from March 2021 to March 2022. Over 400 EV drivers have applied to join Electric Nation so far, however recruitment remains open to ensure the project secures 100 participants that meet all the eligibility criteria.
ELECTRIC NATION
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help balance the load on the electricity grid, and to be rewarded for doing this. This is providing a vision of the future when millions of EVs will be able to provide services to the grid, resulting in cost savings for car owners, reduced infrastructure spending for DNOs and energy generators, as well as helping the country to achieve its Net Zero CO2 targets.” Electric Nation is recruiting 100 Nissan EV
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