National Grid ESO is set to use electric vehicle (EV) batteries to balance the grid while they’re charging.
The trial will begin with Octopus Energy customers, to explore how EV batteries can provide flexibility in the energy system via a ‘balancing mechanism’, where power is traded to balance the National Grid in real time to move away from fossil fuel reliance.
This initiative explores the potential for batteries in cars on driveways to keep the grid balanced, a crucial milestone in enabling a net zero power system.
National Grid ESO head of markets Claire Dykta said: “Opening up access to the balancing mechanism for electric vehicles and other technologies is an important step for extending consumer flexibility in a net-zero world.”
“This industry-wide trial will provide valuable information to our control room, to help enable the full-time availability of electric vehicles in the balancing mechanism in future,” added Dykta.
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Octopus Energy customers with EVs will be able to switch to a ‘intelligent Octopus’ smart tariff, which will give them discounted energy and technology to track and managing charging via an app.
The technology automatically adjusts the charging schedule of the car in response to the ESO requests for more or less power.
Octopus’s tech platform will connect to customer EVs and continually manage their response depending on changing grid needs.
Any updates to charging schedules ensure that customer charging targets will still be met.
The number of EVs using ‘Intelligent Octopus’ has grown by a quarter every month in 2023 and Octopus now has more than 100,000 drivers across its EV specific tariffs.
