JOINT MAE-CER SEMINAR

Grid Integrated Vehicle

Bjoern Christensen, NUVVE
February 15, 2017, 11:00am - 12:00pm, EBU-II 479

ABSTRACT:

The electrification of transportation, which is a necessity to reach Californian, European and International environmental target, means that there will be a new demand for electric power and energy. For example, in Denmark the roughly eight thousand electric vehicles (in 2016) equates to the addition of around 3500 new three-person households in terms of electric consumption demand. The impact, is even greater in terms of power, where electric vehicles can significantly add to the peak loads seen in the electric grid.

The introduction of the electric vehicle (EV) represents both a challenge and an opportunity for the electric grid. It was not designed to accommodate additional large scale EV penetration. EVs connected to the grid may cause strain and require large investments in transmission infrastructure and even more expensive distribution grid upgrades like low voltage transformers and feeder lines.

Through new technology such as Vehicle Grid Integration (VGI), the EV can be intelligently integrated into the grid and made to actively support the power system. The vehicle, which is typically only used 1-2 hours per day, can function as a fast responding, high-power, flexible distributed storage resource with a high degree of flexibility. Aggregated EVs can function as Virtual Power Plants (VPP) and work in harmony with the grid to support the integration of more renewable energy.  The vehicle may even be able to deliver power from the main propulsion battery back into the electric grid upon demand. This ability is called “Vehicle to Grid” or simply V2G.

Through smart business plans V2G technology can enable the individual EV owner to participate in new energy market services and thereby earn revenues to effectively lower the cost of EV ownership. These capabilities combined, means that EVs have a strong potential for supporting an economic and stable electrical grid based on renewable energy.

BIO:

Bjoern is the Chief Strategy Officer of Nuvve, a San Diego based startup.  Nuvve provides solutions to expanding the penetration of EVs by lowering the cost of EV ownership by allowing the EVs to generate revenues from participating in grid services.  Before Bjoern joined Nuvve in 2011, he was the co-founder and CEO of Siemens Venture Capital.