SSE is looking to reduce “dependency” on traditional battery storage in a new deal with Netherlands-based electric vehicle (EV) smart charging provider Jedlix.
The partnership will allow domestic customers with EV charging to provide flexibility into the balancing market at times of system need, and will help Jedlix users and partners – including car manufacturers and chargepoint operators – minimise costs through SSE’s access to the Balancing Mechanism.
EV drivers are awarded a cashback on top of any savings made on their energy bill in return for their flexibility.
As the uptake of EVs continues to rise – with September being the best ever month for battery EV sales, reaching 32,721 – there is now a potential benefit of enhancing power generation, boosting the capacities of distributed and renewable energy resources across the country, SSE said.
“Acting as a network of hundreds-of-thousands of mobile batteries, EVs can help reduce renewable energy assets’ dependency on traditional battery storage by creating a Virtual Power Plant that can provide the grid with greater system flexibility,” said Stephen Stead, director of strategy and digital services at SSE Energy Solutions.
Looking ahead, SSE and Jedlix intend on entering other flexibility markets such as providing services to distribution network operators.
The use of EVs for flexibility is becoming more commonly looked at in the market, with Octopus Electric Vehicles announcing this week it is preparing a path for its vehicle-to-grid project Powerloop to become the first to enter National Grid ESO’s Balancing Mechanism.
Meanwhile, Kaluza and Flexitricity have also teamed up to offer demand response in the Balancing Mechanism, optimising domestic battery storage and EV batteries.
Indeed, Flexitricity became the first to register a domestic EV aggregated unit in the Balancing Mechanism as part of a partnership with ev.energy in January 2021.