eMotorWerks, a subsidiary of the Enel Group’s new advanced energy services business line Enel X, and LO3 Energy, an innovative company that facilitates local energy marketplaces through advanced digital services, have launched a partnership to use JuiceNet’s smart-grid control technology for a series of microgrid + EVs projects with the joint goal of exploring high-value use cases for local energy markets.
An initial project will connect the JuiceNet EV charging platform to one of LO3’s transactive energy marketplaces, activating local renewable energy to be traded between the microgrid and electric vehicle owners.
LO3’s Exergy platform underpins the data exchange that enables price signals and peer-to-peer transactions while the eMotorWerks JuiceNet platform enables control over local energy flows, matching in real time and in small groups the local demand from EVs and households with the local supply of green, affordable energy.
“Beyond offering JuiceNet technology as a way for residents to manage charging more efficiently, projects such as our virtual battery in California, and now this partnership with LO3, showcase how powerful smart charging can be for grid services at scales ranging from hyper-local to state and national levels,” said Vincent Schachter, Senior Vice President, Energy Services of eMotorWerks. “We are looking forward to showcasing how JuiceNet can integrate with LO3’s platform to make local transactions smarter, quicker and more useful for future services.”
LO3 Energy and eMotorWerks view this project as a key component of a broad service portfolio for utilities, giving consumers a choice in how they consume energy. This includes when and what type of resources are used to charge EVs, as well as when and how EVs can be leveraged as energy resources for local grid balancing through demand response.
The targets of this program are price-responsive consumers with a flexible charging schedule who would like to leverage EV flexibility to save on their energy bills, or EV fleet managers who want to ensure predictable charging costs. In today’s increasingly decentralized energy environment, utilities and grid operators are facing increased challenges to ensure a reliable, balanced and clean electric grid. Local energy trading platforms are taking a foothold as a scalable and cost-effective way to enable flexibility management.
“As utility business models adapt from evolving regulations and competition, new products and services supporting EVs allow utilities to amplify and reinvigorate their direct customer relationship,” said Lawrence Orsini, CEO of LO3 Energy, “EV charging adds another option to efficiently match local energy supply and demand, and such project’s results could open the door to more transactions among other microgrid participants and EV drivers.”
eMotorWerks’ JuiceNet platform allows users to remotely monitor and schedule their EV charging for the most cost-effective times of the day and earn rewards for providing a variety of energy services, both locally and through energy markets. JuiceNet also allows users to schedule EV charging when surplus electricity from the local, domestic, solar rooftop system is available for grid export or at times when high levels of renewable energy generation are available. When integrated into a community microgrid, these functions can become a part of the transactive energy solution for maximizing choice for energy consumers.
