Elli, a brand of the Volkswagen Group, and MITNETZ STROM have now launched a pilot project for smart grid integration of electric vehicles in Germany. In the first step, around 20 drivers of Volkswagen models ID.3, ID.4 or ID.5 are involved in making electric cars part of the energy system in the future and increasingly using green electricity from the region for charging.
With the concept “Innovation Impulse for Future- Proof Grid Integration of E-Mobility,” the two project partners are now presenting together with E-Bridge the centerpiece of this field testing at E-World (June 21-23) in Essen, Germany. There, they will provide a first insight into what a practical implementation of smart charging could look like.
The idea behind it: An algorithm uses price incentives to compare the cars’ charging plans with regional electricity output from renewable energies and the available capacities in the distribution grid. The resulting flexible grid usage is intended to reduce the frequency of bottlenecks in the power grid and create financial benefits for participants.
“With this project, we are demonstrating for the first time how electric cars can be synchronised with the power grid in a user-friendly way. The car becomes a rolling electricity storage unit for the grid operator. For drivers, financial added value is generated via price incentives,” says Niklas Schirmer, Vice President Strategy Elli. “By making the electricity demand of EVs more flexible, more renewable, regionally generated electricity can be used.” In 2020 alone, about 6,200 GWh of green power had to be curtailed in Germany.
“Together, we are supporting the energy and transport transition locally and investing in the energy future. E-mobility and the energy industry are working hand in hand here. EVs can run on green electricity and relieve the strain on the power grid where it is particularly needed. We can prevent bottlenecks in the local grid by using newly developed software to allocate charging processes for electric vehicles to the available grid capacities. The concept now provides us with important insights into whether our approach is customer-friendly,” adds Dr. Michael Lehmann, Head of Process and System Management at MITNETZ STROM.
The results of the pilot test are expected in the fall of 2022.
