What opportunities do you see in bidirectional charging?
Bidirectional charging offers a win-win-win opportunity for the energy and mobility transition. Done properly, it helps us integrate renewable energies, relieves pressure on the power grids and rewards users.
The problem is obvious: last year, around 9,500 GWh of renewable energy was curtailed in Germany, and the trend is rising. That electricity could have powered almost three million battery-electric vehicles for a year. With vehicle-to-grid (V2G), more renewable electricity is stored when it is cheap and abundantly available.
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When the sun is not shining or demand rises, the electricity can be fed back into the grid. This also relieves the power grids, since decentralised batteries play to their strengths particularly during short peak-load periods. By 2030, ten million EVs in Germany alone could provide around 195 GWh of decentralised storage capacity, more than four times the capacity of all German pumped-storage power plants combined.
And all this without additional investment in new generation capacity. If we use V2G across Europe, experts expect system costs to be €175 billion lower between 2030 and 2040. For Germany alone, this would translate into economic savings of up to €8.4 billion per year. And not least, the technology makes electric mobility even more attractive. In the best case, users can earn between €700 and €900 per year on the market with their vehicle battery, without any loss of comfort or mobility.
Where does the market stand today in Germany and Europe?
In key European markets, the right framework conditions for bidirectional charging are now being put in place. The UK is very advanced, with mobile storage already playing a central role in the electricity markets. We see similarly positive framework conditions in France.
In Germany, the Bundestag removed important hurdles to the economic viability of business models last December. To make this workable in practice, a further ruling by the Federal Network Agency is now needed so that the whole framework genuinely functions.
Where do you see the main challenges in driving bidirectional charging forward?
The further dismantling of regulatory hurdles to economic viability remains decisive. It is important that the temporarily stored electricity is as free as possible from any additional charges.
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In the medium and long term, harmonising grid-connection and market-access conditions as well as communication standards across Europe is crucial for scaling V2G business models. The European Commission is pursuing this goal, and here too pragmatic and swift action is required.
What practical experience have you gained from your pilot projects?
A clear, practical conclusion can be drawn from the pilot project: bidirectional charging works in everyday use when the vehicle, wallbox, photovoltaic system and energy management are offered from a single source. This makes it easier for customers and reduces technical problems.
The concrete customer benefit is already visible: individual pilot customers are already achieving up to 95 percent self-sufficiency and saving around €1,000 per year, depending on their individual setup. In short, the technology is ready for everyday use and economically attractive. Now it is about scaling and the right regulatory framework.
Interview by Hans-Christoph Neidlein
First published on www.zfk.de. Find out more about bidirectional charging at Power2Drive Europe.
