The first vehicle-to-grid trial project from the £30 million government competition, thought to be “the largest, most diverse” project of its kind in the world, will be completed in May 2019 according to Innovate UK’s lead on the project.
However, despite the progress that has been made in developing V2G projects, and the high levels of interest trained
on the technology from utilities, flexibility providers and more, commercialisation remains some way off as the technology remains in its infancy.
That was the view of OVO Energy’s head of electric vehicles Tom Pakenham, who was speaking on day one of Solar and Storage Live alongside Marco Landi, Innovate UK’s V2G and EV charging lead.
The green supplier is working with project partners including Nissan to deploy 1,000 V2G chargers in UK homes to test the technology’s capabilities and develop a business model behind its use.
Despite the enthusiasm and innovation funding going into V2G, Pakenham said it was still “extremely difficult” to work up an end-to-end offer as the sector remains in the “early days” of development.
However, both he and Landi were keen to espouse the potential for the technology, which represents the first time that the technological innovation and expertise of both the automotive and energy sectors has come together.
Once established, Landi said V2G services would be able to play in the £1 billion market for flexibility while helping to offset some of the £17 billion in network upgrades expected by 2050 to integrate the rise of EVs.