Vehicle-to-grid trials show promise for system balancing

This is the claim of Octopus Energy Group and National Grid ESO who have announced the successful integration of vehicle-to-grid technology using a test environment of the Balancing Mechanism, National Grid ESO’s primary tool to balance the UK’s electricity system in real-time.

This is the first time that vehicle-to-grid technology has been demonstrated in Great Britain to show that electric vehicles can receive a direct signal from the ESO to support system balancing.

In a series of initial tests run in August 2022, Octopus charged and discharged the batteries of up to 20 electric cars from participating customers at times of grid imbalance.

In a statement, Claire Miller, director of technology and innovation at Octopus Electric Vehicles, said: “This is a real ‘line in the sand’ moment for V2G tech. We have shown that this technology is capable of helping to balance our future, green grid, to the benefit of people and the planet.

“We’ve proved what is possible with the technology and cars that are currently on the market, and this is only going to grow. Soon we will have millions of electric cars sitting on driveways capable of storing and exporting green energy back to the grid when it needs it most - and once the vehicle to grid proposition is ready to be launched, these cars will help to support our renewables expansion and taking us a huge step closer to net zero.”

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Analysis from Octopus Energy’s electric vehicles business shows that if the trial results were extrapolated across a whole year, the EVs could realise a profit of around £62m per annum and non-participating customers could save money through grid balancing cost reductions. According to Octopus, further analysis shows customers could save up to £840 per year compared to unscheduled charging on a flat rate tariff.

BM incentivises the use of customers’ car batteries as a balancing device, contributing to reduced balancing costs across the network, which will help to reduce bills for all energy consumers.

Octopus Energy Group said its Kraken platform works in the background to match customer schedules with grid signals to provide flexibility as a service and seamless charging to customers. The company added that if those signals occur outside the tariff windows - usually between 2330-0530 for import and 1600-1900 for export - customers still benefit from the lowest import and highest export prices.

“Vehicle-to-grid technology opens the door for everyone to engage in our electricity system, in a way that we can all benefit from, said Jake Rigg, corporate affairs director, National Grid ESO. “The next steps for us are to take these learnings and work with industry on how we develop and deploy a balancing mechanism service for V2G.”

Rigg continued: “The trial findings will also influence future innovation projects, including the CrowdFlex project we are currently developing with industry, to establish additional routes for consumer engagement in electricity networks.”