Tag Archives: Mobility House

Nissan LEAF V2G Qualifies as a “Power Station” in Germany

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In a press release earlier today Nissan proudly announced that:

An important milestone on the road to emission-free energy and mobility has been achieved by technology company The Mobility House, energy supplier ENERVIE, transmission system operator Amprion and car maker Nissan. With the Nissan Leaf and an innovative charging and energy management technology, the project partners have now succeeded in qualifying an electric car for all the TSO regulatory requirements for primary power regulation. This means that the car can be integrated as a regulating reserve for the German electricity grid – a breakthrough in the establishment of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology in Germany.

For some strange reason Nissan don’t mention the manufacturer of the V2G capable electric vehicle charging station displayed in their publicity pictures:

Nissan LEAF

Nissan 2018 LEAF and EVTEC V2G charging station

Those pretty white boxes look a lot like the EVTEC units we have mentioned previously here on the V2G UK blog. Nissan’s press release continues:

To meet the universal desire for a transition to decentralised energy generation from renewable sources here in Germany, new and innovative solutions for stabilising the electricity grid are necessary. The increasing use of renewable energy leads to fluctuations in the grid, which must be initially balanced by primary regulation, able to prevent impending power cuts at a second’s notice.

Electric cars such as the Nissan Leaf, with integrated bidirectional charging technology, could play an important part in this. With its CHAdeMO charging connector, the Leaf is able not only to extract power from the grid and store it in its traction battery, but, if necessary, also to feed power back. This is called the Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) concept.

As luck would have it here at V2G UK we are very familiar with the V2G concept and CHAdeMO connectors. In fact our V2G EVSE subsidiary has recently received an Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV for short) grant to assess the feasibility of using such technology on the streets of Plymouth, Exeter and Falmouth in order to provide flexibility services to Western Power Distribution’s electricity grid over here, and thereby defer expensive reinforcement of South West England’s distribution grid. Here’s a close up of the Vehicle-to-Grid Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment for (V2G EVSE for short) in ENERVIE‘s car park over in Hagen:

Nissan LEAF

EVTEC Vehicle-to-Grid capable charging station

whilst here’s our concept for the inner city streets of Devon and Cornwall, Urban Electric‘s UEone “pop up” charging post:

UEone-Concept

According to Guillaume Pelletreau, the Vice President and Managing Director of Nissan Center Europe:

We strongly believe in an emission-free future. Accordingly, we are also very proud that the Nissan Leaf has, as the first electric car ever, been approved as suitable for stabilising grid frequencies. LEAF batteries could make an important contribution to energy transition in Germany and a sustainable future.

Nissan LEAF

Nissan LEAF in ENERVIE’s car park in Hagen

Here at V2G UK we strongly believe that Nissan LEAF traction batteries could make an important contribution to the energy transition and a sustainable future here in the United Kingdom.

Honda Research V2G Technology in Europe

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Honda have just announced in a press release that:

Honda has invested in advanced bi-directional charging technology at its European R&D site in Offenbach, Germany, which is helping to balance demand and store energy more efficiently across the facility. The new charging system incorporates renewable energy generation, and is a test bed for hardware that will be available to private households in the future.

The technology installation in Germany follows the debut of the domestic Honda Power Manager Concept at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show in September. The concept previewed a fully-integrated energy transfer, which takes power from the grid and can return stored energy from electric vehicle (EV) batteries – through ‘Vehicle-to-Grid’ or ‘V2G’ technology. This latest trial installation at Honda’s Offenbach site applies the same principles on a larger scale.

Here’s how Honda’s new bi-directional V2G capable charging station looks, albeit not in situ in Offenbach by the looks of it!

Honda installs new bi-directional charging technology at European R&D centre

Honda installs new bi-directional charging technology at European R&D centre

According to Jörg Böttcher, Vice President of Honda R&D Europe:

With the installation of the latest bi-directional charging technology at our R&D site in Germany, we are adding the next technology to our Smart Company project, which will further enhance our research activity in the field of zero-emission society and future mobility.

Here at V2G UK we have come to associate the word “Honda” with “hydrogen“, although Honda did take part in a V2G trial in the United States back in 2013. Here in Europe in 2017 they point out that:

With the help of the bi-directional hardware and with the technology of The Mobility House, Honda aims to optimise energy management at its European R&D campus, maximising the use of renewable solar power in particular. The project is testing the interaction, compatibility and power flow between specific electrical components, including the renewable energy cells and the EV batteries. The installation represents a collaboration between Honda R&D Europe, energy service provider The Mobility House and Swiss technology company EVTEC.

The investment in the bi-directional energy transfer technology further enhances the world’s most advanced public charging station for plug-in vehicles, which was launched at Honda R&D Europe in summer 2017. Its state-of-the-art 940V capability can deliver up to 150kW of energy, enabling as many as four vehicles to charge simultaneously with different types of connectors. Since its installation in June, the EV charging station has supplied power for 447 charge sessions and has saved 3.87 tonnes of CO2.

Here’s a video from The Mobility House explaining their vision of a future “V2G enabled” world:

https://youtu.be/qGtCClE4tcY

There’s more information on that topic in a press release from EVTEC which doesn’t seem to be available online at the moment. In slightly stilted English the Swiss company explain that:

With the growing importance of electric mobility, the two worlds of energy and mobility are merging. The closer this connection becomes, the more importance gain intelligent technologies that ensure this development secures a sustainable future. Such a technology is Vehicle-to-Grid, in short “V2G”. What is behind this term, is the intelligent integration of electric vehicles in the energy system and markets.

This advantage is well known to Honda, where the V2G technology is already in use today: with the help of a bidirectional charging solution, the company aims to optimize energy management at its European R & D campus in Offenbach. Within the framework of a comprehensive project over the last 12 month, the interaction of various energy components – from vehicle battery to photovoltaic system – is being tested here.

According to EVTEC co-founder and CEO Markus Kramis:

A reliable, precise, and fast acting bi-directional charger is the necessary base for every V2G application, like peak shaving and energy optimization.

All in all that EVTEC charging station sounds like just the sort of thing we need to try out at V2G Towers over here in North Cornwall, located in a distant corner of sunny South West England amongst an impressive array of large scale solar PV and onshore wind “farms”!

The same may well apply to Honda’s Power Manager mentioned above, which was announced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. According to a Honda press release once again:

Its all-new Power Manager Concept, a fully-integrated energy transfer system, is designed to incorporate electric vehicles into a smart power grid. It enables the collection and distribution of electricity between the grid, homes and businesses and electric vehicles, to intelligently balance demand and efficient storage of energy. Honda will apply its Power Manager technology as part of a smart grid pilot scheme in the west of France.

Honda-Power-Manager

Power Manager Concept works by aggregating and distributing energy to and from the grid, solar panel-equipped homes or workplaces, and electric vehicles.

Electricity is received into the system from the grid or is generated by the solar panels and can be used to power and heat the building as well as to charge the EV. While the EV is plugged in, the energy can be stored and used at home or sold back to the grid, potentially generating value for EV owners.

The Power Manager Concept system can help to stabilise the grid at times of either short or surplus supply, as well as representing a revenue opportunity for EV owners.

That sounds like just the sort of thing that Western Power Distribution needs to help stabilise the electricity distribution grid in our neck of the woods, which is currently heavily “constrained”:

WPD-NoCapacity

Do you suppose that we could possibly persuade Honda to apply its Power Manager technology as part of a smart grid pilot scheme here in the south west of England too?

Nissan Unveil Solar PV Integrated Static xStorage for UK

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In two separate press releases there have been two interesting announcements from Nissan on the ex EV battery storage front. In the first there’s a football connection!

Nissan, power management leader Eaton and The Mobility House today signed a ground-breaking 10-year deal with Amsterdam ArenA – home of Ajax Football Club and world-famous entertainment venue – to provide back-up power from second life Nissan LEAF batteries.

The xStorage Buildings system efficiently stores and distributes energy when it’s needed, ensuring that the lights never go out at the renowned 55,000-seater stadium, which has played host to numerous high profile concerts and sporting events over the years.

By repurposing batteries from previously used electric vehicles, the xStorage Buildings system can draw energy from the grid, providing businesses with more control, better value and a more sustainable choice for their energy consumption.

Using 280 Nissan LEAF batteries, the system designed for the Amsterdam ArenA will be the largest energy storage system powered by second-life batteries used by a commercial business in Europe and will have four Megawatts of power and four Megawatts (sic) of storage capacity.

As well as providing vital back-up power services to the ArenA, xStorage Buildings also enables the Amsterdam ArenA to power the surrounding neighbourhood when necessary and protect the grid.

We’ll excuse Nissan PR the misprint because they’ve provided this nice video accompaniment to their announcement, which doesn’t make the same mistake:

In the second announcement it is revealed that:

Nissan and power management leader Eaton are broadening their portfolio of xStorage Home residential energy storage solutions by introducing a range of six product configurations, giving consumers greater choice to meet their energy needs. This announcement comes as pre-orders of xStorage Home begin today in the United Kingdom, Norway and Germany with other European markets to follow in the coming months.

The xStorage Home system can draw energy from the sun or from the grid, making energy consumption more affordable and encouraging home-owners to make a more sustainable choice. The cutting-edge technology in the xStorage Home system is also fit for the future, and can enable customers to sell energy back to the grid – an opportunity that is expected to be offered by energy companies in the future.

The system gives consumers greater control over how and when they use energy in their own homes enabling them to avoid expensive tariff periods. The expanded range will offer consumers greater choice over power capacity and price as well as units. Consumers can opt to purchase units powered by either second life batteries or new batteries.
xStorage Home units – which provide a sustainable second life for Nissan’s electric vehicle (EV) batteries after their first life in cars is over – will be priced competitively starting at €3,500 (excluding VAT and installation costs) for a power capacity of 3.5kW rising to just €3,900 for 6kW. Units powered by new Nissan batteries will start from €5,000 rising to €5,580 for the highest capacity and will come with an extended warranty period of ten years.

Connected to a residential power supply and/or renewable energy sources such as solar panels, the unit has the potential to revolutionise the way people manage energy usage in their own home, providing added flexibility.

xStorage Home comes with solar panel inverters already integrated meaning that if a home is equipped with solar panels, the consumer can connect directly to xStorage Home, storing and then powering their homes using clean, renewable energy. It can also save customers money on their utility bills by charging up when renewable energy is available or cheaper, and releasing that stored energy when demand and costs are high.

The xStorage Home unit also has the capability to provide energy back to the grid in countries where the conditions enable customers to do so. This provides another potential revenue stream as customers will be able to sell stored energy back to the grid when demand and costs are high.

The system also provides the ultimate back-up energy solution to consumers, ideal at a time when energy grids are coming under significant strain. With smartphone connectivity, it allows consumers to switch between energy sources at the touch of a button.

I wonder if Eaton have solved all the Great British G83 issues yet, and whether they will incorporate V2H functionality into their xStorage offering? I also cannot help but wonder how many Great British Pounds that €3,500 will translate to by the time UK deliveries eventually commence?