Multifunctional buffer for the power grid
Electric cars obviously place some demands on the power grid, but they can also play an important role in relieving it. The use of EVs as ‘buffer batteries’ is now happening on a large scale for the first time in Utrecht, with more than 300 shared cars.
There will be 300 shared cars in Utrecht that can not only be charged, but can also supply power to the electricity grid. In this way, the cars will function as a kind of ‘neighborhood battery’ and can supply the electricity grid with power at any time. On the other hand, they can function as energy storage for the neighborhood. The required power in the system comes from solar and wind energy. By absorbing or feeding power back into the power grid, the cars can relieve the power grid if there is a threat of grid congestion or supply power if there is a high demand for it in the area. It also saves on the running costs of the cars, because the energy company pays for the electricity
The initiators, MyWheels and We Drive Solar, want to expand the project considerably in the coming years and also introduce it in other places in the Netherlands. Henri de Jong, CEO of The Sharing Group: “We are building The People’s Powerplant, an energy system in which we store our self-generated energy and share it with our neighborhood or neighbors. In this way we accelerate the energy transition and keep it affordable for everyone.”
Car sharing company MyWheels and energy platform EnergyZero work together in The Sharing Group. EnergyZero operates on the basis of dynamic rates. We Drive Solar has several years of experience in charging and unloading (shared) cars in Utrecht. Since 2019, Renault Zoe have been used as a shared car and also to store sustainable energy and feed it back to the electricity grid at any time.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl