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NETWORK / 37 / MARCH 2018 V2G chargers are a far more complex beast than conven- tional one-way chargers with the additional task of converting DC from the battery to AC requir- ing much more sophisticated hardware than a one- way AC to DC charger. As a result, there are only a handful of units on the market and they are eye-water- ingly expensive, in the parish of £500/kWh. This compares to circa £100-150/kWh for a pho- tovoltaic panel inverter, which has many similarities under the skin. They are also currently pretty bulky cabinets, all focus on the higher power levels only and are mostly three phase only. So lots of barriers to making it fly but there are some pretty in - triguing and compelling reasons for trying to explore it: l For one it is an ideology that captures the imagination of the public and is understand- able to nearly everyone. Hav- ing a big chunky energy asset that you can use to reduce the running costs of your EV by exporting energy to the grid, building, or neighbour is an appealing concept. l The average UK passenger car is driven around 8,000 miles a year, so doing some simple maths this means the average UK car is stood idle for 98 per cent of its life. l Providing energy to the grid is actually pretty trivial for an EV. For instance, the recently faceli'ed Nissan Leaf has a maximum battery power output of 110kW, whereas V2G chargers are typically seeking to export 7-10kW. As such, regardless of whether an EV is providing power for fre - quency balancing or energy to support a DNO, 7019kW export is less than 10 per cent of throttle in the eyes of the battery. l There will be monetary re- wards, but these are going to be very circumstance depend- ent. Trials done in Europe have shown that with good grid connectivity an EV can realistically earn €1,000 from frequency support alone. But what about the barriers mentioned earlier? l Insufficient vehicle numbers - the number of plugin vehi- cles on UK roads is currently around 135,000, representing over 3GWh of storage. The total UK passenger vehicle population is approaching 32 million cars so with the growth in sales that everyone now expects there is no doubt there will be a significant vol - ume of these unusual storage resources with the potential for network support. l Battery range and anxiety – Techno-economic trials such as in the Innovate UK funded EFES project have shown that even with EV battery capaci- ties today a useful amount of V2G value can be derived with only a modest loss of vehicle utility. For example, provid - ing 7kW to V2G for an hour to support the evening peak only reduces an EV range by circa 20-25 miles. In compari - son, the latest Nissan Leaf has a real world driving range of around 150 miles. l Battery degradation – This is the most commonly cited concern because of fears of additional battery cycling. Findings from several aca - demic studies on this subject (one in the UK and two in the USA) showed that: V2G would have an insignifi - cant impact on battery life; and that with savvy manage- ment of the battery state of charge can actually slow down battery aging. There is more analysis work to be done but the picture is very encouraging. Stimulating the sector So we have a pot of enticing value propositions, a rapidly evolving domain and a really unusual mix of jigsaw pieces. V2G is still at an early stage of commercialisation though. UK and international trials to date have been very techno-eco - nomic focused with very limited supply chain engagement in real customer environments. Considering this landscape, Innovate UK, BEIS and OLEV all strongly felt that this area justified Government innova- tion funding. We saw a very timely opportunity to stimulate the sector, bring supply chains together, and really bottom out the benefit cases to the various parties: From an OLEV perspective: Can V2G create good value to vehicle users and the automo- tive manufacturers? Can it pro- vide evidence that V2G can be trusted? Can it act as a catalyst for EV sales in the UK? From a BEIS energy policy perspective: Can V2G provide value to networks and the system operator with enough connectivity, resource and EV user engagement to secure long term energy system value? Will it enhance smart charging by improving the amount of time a vehicle is grid connected? From an Innovate UK per - spective: Can we catalyse busi- ness models that will engage new supply chains sustainably and drive onward private invest- ment? Can we stimulate this space in a way that puts the UK in a commercial leadership and export position for both V2G and smart charging as a whole? With funding from BEIS and OLEV this followed through to the launch of a V2G competition last summer and the announce - ment of winners in late January. It sought answers to the above questions with an array of pro- jects across the electric vehicle domain, including personal use, car clubs, public and commer- cial fleets, and transport hubs. Projects were encouraged to develop hardware, explore new business models, trial energy system integration approaches and to understand user behav - iours. Twenty-one projects were funded, totalling £30m. This includes eight large scale dem - onstrator projects encompassing approximately 2,700 vehicles in total, with real users in real scenarios, with real rewards. The net result is a portfolio of by far the biggest, most diverse and most ambitious V2G projects worldwide that will run over the next two to three years. If you have any questions please contact mark.thompson@innova- teuk.gov.uk or visit https://tinyurl. com/yahf2ktq Mark Thompson, senior innovation lead – energy systems, Innovate UK The competition for government funding was run by Innovate UK.