The spotlight is firmly on the integration of electric vehicles into the power grid with the recent news that ChargeScape, a consortium of some of the biggest names in automotive manufacturing has appointed its first CEO and CTO.
Spearheaded by Alliance Board member, Ford Motor Company, along with BMW Manufacturing Co., Honda and Nissan Motor Corporation, the joint venture will focus on the integration of electric vehicles (EVs) into the power grid in the US.
EVs and e-mobility set to take centre stage at Enlit Europe 2023
Transactive energy is an intelligent, multi-layer communications process that organizes energy generation, consumption, and delivery. During a transactive energy occurrence, power suppliers, energy markets and distributed energy resources (DERs), including electric vehicles and batteries, exchange to negotiate energy requirements and pricing.
Today security concerns, the economy, and daily life choices require a flexible and durable electricity system. Transactive energy is designed to improve energy efficiency, which results in a more resilient and reliable power grid.
In the electricity power industry, ranging from petroleum, gas, coal and nuclear power, balancing supply and demand is crucial to maintaining a reliable electric grid. As the world increasingly focuses on renewable energy, Distributed Energy Resources, and electrification, Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) are garnering more attention, especially in the US. These VPPs present an innovative solution, enabling local grid operators to use energy flexibility to ensure a more stable electricity supply, improved energy efficiency, and enhanced grid capacity.
Swell Energy and SunPower, members of OpenADR, are important players in the transformative shift, having established VPPs that offer new value to utilities and their customers. A VPP is defined as a cloud-based network with a decentralized multi-asset ecosystem consisting of Distributed Energy Resource (DERs)—such as batteries, EVs, smart plugs and thermostats. Controlled by grid operators or third party aggregators, these resources can be monitored, forecasted and optimized with bi-directional communications between components for a more efficient and resilient power grid. VPPs are proving to be a key resource capable of providing resource adequacy and other grid services at a negative net cost to the utility.
