Technology Collaboration Programme

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Task 28

Home Grids and V2X Technologies

Objective of Task

Task 28 aims to address the technical and economic knowledge gaps including regulatory issues preventing V2X technology to fully deploy.

The initial Task objectives were:

  1. Analyse the technical and economic viability of V2X technology, specifically, give responses to a number of identified questions.
    • When will V2X be available as a consumer application?
    • Which are the potential synergies with self-generated electricity in households?
    • Which is the value provided by V2X in terms of security of supply?
    • Which impact is to be expected on tax revenues?
    • Which are the roles of the different industry players?
    • which is the impact of the different regulatory frameworks in different countries?
  2. Develop a set of best practices by connecting and synchronizing the existing V2X research and demonstration projects.
  3. Develop a policy-making toolbox and a technology roadmap definition in order to serve decision makers seeking to introduce V2X technology in their respective countries.
  4. Establish a worldwide technical information exchange platform enabling information sharing among scientific institutions and industrial representatives working in V2X issues.
  5. Promotion of new V2X technology demonstration projects.

The gained knowledge and results of such analysis can be used by policy-makers and industrial partners in the promotion of V2X technology as well as by different players on the EV market within their market research and business modeling.

working method

The overarching objective of Task 28 was to investigate the means to overcome the technical, economic, and policy challenges of the V2X technology. The whole V2X value chain will be considered in this process including power system operators, power electronics industry stakeholders, and the most relevant OEMs.

Utilising the existing HEV TCP framework, Task 28 provides the opportunity to bring together the key actors in the EV industry including research and industry players and energy policymakers in order to discuss the requirements for the development and the use of V2X technology. Two annual meetings are programmed on different strategic topics. By leveraging the technical skills and different experiences of the participants, it will be possible to improve the currently available market analyses of V2X technology.

In addition to expert workshops, a close relation and coordination major V2X technology players is planned in order to connect existing V2X research and demonstration projects. The promotion of new V2X technology demonstration projects will be done by collaborating with international organizations and call for proposals. 

Results

The conclusions of this task mainly concern markets and regulation, technology development, EV grid integration, consumer engagement and business models, and battery aging impacts cumulating in a V2X roadmap.

One of the main outputs from Task 28 is a “V2X Roadmap” to assist policy makers and industrial partners in the promotion of V2X technology. The roadmap provides an overview of the different V2X applications and routes to generate value. A description of the current state of the technology and pilot projects is also provided. Finally, key barriers slowing the development of V2X technology are identified, along with goals and actions required to support and accelerate development.

Markets and Regulation: TSO frequency regulation markets are challenging for aggregators to enter, since there is significant variation between countries, pre-qualification processes are complex and market design is often ill-suited for V2G aggregation. Denmark is home to the first commercial V2G scheme, where TSO frequency response is provided by an aggregator in return for annual revenue of around 1,400 EUR per EV. A study from Canada also showed the potential for V2X to generate energy cost savings of around 20 % through peak shaving and frequency regulation. However, in many countries flexibility markets have been very competitive in recent years and the risk of market saturation could threaten the business case for V2G. In Spain, regulations have proven to be prohibitively expensive for V2X and the priority in this region is to change regulation to permit the entry of aggregators into electricity markets. Other countries in Europe have reported other bottlenecks to development, such as taxes for energy storage and interoperability.

Technology Development: A number of projects are underway in Europe and Korea to test and develop bidirectional AC charging system, comprising onboard DC/AC converters. This type of V2X charger is less developed than the DC equivalent and more work is required to upgrade hardware and software for these systems. There is also a need for grid code modification to connect AC V2X chargers and the development of performance indicators to maintain service quality.

EV Grid Integration in the UK: Power Networks for the UK have reported on the challenge and innovation opportunities of EV growth to DSOs. This includes improving forecasting of load growth from EVs and improved network visibility to inform development of smart alternatives to network reinforcements, such as smart charging and V2G schemes. They note that e-taxis and e-buses will also be a significant contributor to load growth. It was brought up that the lower reliability of V2G (i.e. vehicles are not always connected) may prohibit provision of certain services to the DSO, but five projects are currently underway to test potential. The UK TSO has also carried out pre-qualification tests of V2G for participation in balancing markets.

Customer Engagement and Business Models: Demonstration projects to date have focused on the development of technology, whilst customer engagement and business models remain largely unexplored. The next generation of V2X demonstration projects will need to test what motivates EV users to adopt V2X technology and develop novel business models to share benefits between stakeholders. Amsterdam and Newcastle Universities have recently carried out research on possible incentive schemes, including gamification, air miles, free power and bundled services. Other factors, such as environmental responsibility and energy autonomy may also influence the V2X value proposition to end users.

Battery Aging Impacts: Canada is carrying out several investigations into battery aging from V2X. One explored how the battery aging impacts of V2X may change with the 2nd generation EVs, which will have larger battery capacities than their predecessors. Another study looked at battery aging impacts under non ideal isothermal conditions. The final study explored the business case for V2X in Canada, taking into account the cost of battery aging. Results indicated for most applications of V2X in most provinces of Canada the benefits for providing V2X services are not sufficient to offset battery aging impacts.