GM teams up with SDG&E on Vehicle-to-X operations
In the USA, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and General Motors have announced an agreement to investigate the feasibility of integrating bidirectional electric vehicles into the electric grid as a local energy resource.
Just last month GM announced of its newest business unit, GM Energy which combines the new Ultium Home and Ultium Commercial brands with EV charging. The GM and SDG&E study will now examine the hardware, software, processes and construction considerations necessary to accelerate the wider adoption of Vehicle-to-Grid Integration (VGI) capabilities. This will focus on three VGI capabilities: Vehicle-to-Home (V2H), Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G), and a Virtual Power Plant, which can utilise batteries in EVs, stationary storage batteries and charging stations to help the grid meet demand.
The three main elements of the investigation now being undertaken with SDG&E are: noting best practices for vehicle-to-home or building projects so that customers can be made aware of the benefits; developing cloud-based energy management systems to create a Virtual Power Plant; and exploring the integration of EVs in microgrid environments to increase grid resiliency for communities.
Both SDG&E and GM are signatories to the US Department of Energy’s Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) memorandum of understanding (MOU). This is meant to bring diverse government and private players together to unlock the potential of V2X to increase grid security and resilience.
“Bidirectional charging holds tremendous potential for increasing the country’s energy security and grid reliability in addition to supporting economic opportunities for communities throughout the nation,” said U.S. Department of Energy Office of Technology Transitions Commercialization Executive Rima Oueid. “We are excited to see yet another V2X initiative undertaken by our MOU partners to accelerate adoption of this innovative technology.”
In summer this year, San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) announced a cooperation agreement with Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) specialists Nuvve to allow electric school buses to give energy back to the grid. This is to prevent blackouts through the utility’s Emergency Load Reduction Program (ELRP).
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