OVO Energy has partnered with Nissan with the intention of launching a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) offering for private customers buying the latest Nissan LEAF from January 2018.
The V2G offering, enabling drivers to sell energy to the grid from their electric vehicles, will be designed to allow LEAF owners to connect to the grid and charge at a period of low-demand and therefore cheaper tariff periods.
The vehicle’s battery can then be used when costs are higher to power homes and workplaces, or fed into the energy system to generate revenue. OVO plans to create special tariffs to reward customers for this interaction with the grid.
Stephen Fitzpatrick, chief executive of OVO, said: “Electric vehicles are fast becoming a mainstream option for drivers and solve many of the challenges facing our cities. We believe that they have an integral part to play in the twenty-first century power grid and accelerating decarbonisation and mobility.
“We’re delighted that we can now offer such a compelling incentive to customers who are generating their own clean power, providing a truly sustainable alternative to the traditional energy model.”
The company estimates that if all 20,000 Nissan electric vehicles in the UK were connected to the energy network, they would generate the equivalent output of a 200MW power plant with a 10kW charger.
As the number of EVs on UK roads grows in the coming years, V2G technology could create a virtual power plant of up to 200GW, OVO added – more than double the peak requirement on the UK grid.
The partnership between the companies will also see them collaborate in an attempt to boost residential stationary storage deployment.
The collaboration will result in an offer combining OVO’s intelligent energy technology VNet and Nissan’s xStorage home system, which uses second life batteries from the manufacturer’s range of EVs.
Building from this collaboration, OVO plans to launch OVO SolarStore (beta), the company’s first battery storage offering for qualifying customers. Those with solar households will be able to purchase an xStorage Home system direct from OVO for £4,800 plus installation and benefit from a £350 annual credit and estimated average £240 savings on their energy bills.
