Electric vehicle owners in Denmark are parking their vehicle and feeding power from the battery back into the grid, earning nearly $2000 a year. Trials carried out by Nissan and Italy’s largest utility Enel have showed electric car batteries could help balance supply and demand at peak times and provide new revenue streams for owners.
Technology linking vehicles to the grid marks another challenge for utilities already having trouble integrating wind and solar power into their distribution system. As the use of electric vehicles spreads, grid managers will have to pay closer attention to when drivers draw from the system.
While Nissan has trials with more than 100 cars across Europe, only those in Denmark are able to earn money by feeding power back into the grid. So far, fleet operators are collecting around 1300 euros ($1946) a year using the two-way charge points.
Electric car demand globally is expected to soar, putting further pressure on grid operators to find new ways of balancing demand. Power consumption from vehicles will grow to 1800 terawatt-hours in 2040 from just six terawatt-hours now, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.