Volvo Cars deliver power to the grid in Gothenburg
According to the press release, the four Volvos delivered a total of 111 kWh on two occasions in March. That now concluded the pilot project between Volvo Cars and local energy provider Göteborg Energi, as it shows that EVs can contribute power to the grid to stabilise it, for example.
“This is an important step where we are at the forefront globally in showing that the technology works all the way,” said Therese Caesar, responsible for Effekthandel Väst, Göteborg Energi’s local flexibility market. “Now the opportunity for more economical electric car ownership opens up. Power can be sold locally to counteract capacity shortages in the electricity grid and also combined with participation in the national support and balancing service market.”
As mentioned above, the joint project began in November 2023. The four Volvo Cars (the carmaker does not mention any specific models, but apparently one of them was an EX40) were charged and discharged using a low-cost AC wallboy. The companies opted for the latter, because they deemed the technology more accessible to the end user.
At the time, Lars Edström, CEO of local grid owner Göteborg Energi Elnät, estimated that ‘in the future, up to 20 per cent of the need for flexibility can be covered by vehicle-to-grid, so the potential is very large.’
It is not clear how the insight gained from the project will be used by either company. One of the project’s goal was to ‘gain acceptance from a grid company and to demonstrate to other grid companies that V2G programmes can provide tangible benefits.’ Volvo Cars also launched a new unit in 2023 called ‘Volvo Cars Energy Solutions’ to bundle energy-related products and services.
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