Monday 27 July 2020

ARENA injects $2.4m in one of the world’s largest electric vehicle-to-grid schemes

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has issued AUD$2.4 million (£1.3m) in funding for the deployment of an electric vehicle (EV) to grid (V2G) scheme in Canberra, Australia.

The trial is thought to be one of the 'world's largest V2G' demonstrations, deploying 50 new EVs in the fleet of the local government.

The scheme will use the second-generation Nissan Leaf, which has a technology that enables the vehicle to send electricity back to the electricity network.

The plan is to use the cars 40kWh batteries to provide backup power, discharge electricity to the grid, store excess renewable energy and help stabilise the network.

The Australian National University has also partnered on this project with the aim to show the V2G concept can function well when deployed in everyday life.

ARENA CEO Darren Miller said: “Given its potential capability to provide similar services as household batteries, V2G has the opportunity to transform a vehicle into a revenue-generating device for consumers, through access to energy and network service markets and also to provide power solutions for the grid."

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