The success of the trial between Octopus Energy and National Grid ESO (ESO), which uses electric vehicles (EVs) in the Balancing Mechanism (BM), hints that the integration could reduce system costs by almost £100 million.
Octopus announced the start of the vehicle-to-grid (V2G) trial, initiated by ESO’s Power Responsive programme, in September 2023. The trial would see drivers on the ‘Intelligent Octopus’ tariff use their EVs to balance the grid whilst charging to explore how small-scale assets or ‘power plants’ can help provide grid flexibility via the (BM).
Participating drivers will also receive “heavily reduced” charging rates.
Octopus revealed the trial had proved that EVs, treated as “mini power plants”, when charging at the same time could be used as one big power plant transporting energy to the grid to help with balancing.
According to the energy supplier, the results of the trial suggest that if the 10 million EVs expected to be in the UK by 2030 participated in the BM, system costs could be reduced by almost £100 million a year.
The trial is due to close in the coming months, after which Octopus will share its findings and initiate a discussion on how V2G can support the BM.
Alex Schoch, head of flexibility at Octopus Energy, said: “We’ve empowered customers to take an active role in the energy system by standardising the process with National Grid and using cutting-edge technology. This will accelerate the transition to a cheaper and more sustainable future. This bottom-up approach to energy transition benefits consumers and drives down system costs, ensuring that everyone profits from the shift towards electric transport.”