Back in May I covered the launch the We Drive Solar V2G project, which was planning to put 50 Renault 5s on the road as car share vehicles with local operator MyWheels and use them to provide grid services when they were otherwise idle.
These vehicles were put on the streets and connected on 4th June, and today We Drive Solar Founder and CEO Robin Berg has released initial data from the trial.
The news from Utrecht is interesting. Several times over the trial period, the 50 vehicles have contributed as much as 300kW to the grid during the evening peak demand period.
The data, released by local grid operator Stedin, also shows that over the five-month period, 65MWh of energy has been dispatched at an average of 1,300kWh per vehicle.
Charging from Utrecht’s abundant solar and injecting power into the grid at peak times is relieving grid congestion, allowing the grid to support ever higher penetration rates of solar, delaying investment in infrastructure, displacing fossil fuel-generated electricity, and ultimately saving money for consumers.
Robin was also pleased to announce that the fleet will be expanding with a further 120 Renault 5 E-Tech vehicles in December. The goal is to be able to deliver 1MW of grid congestion relief. In 2026 the fleet will expand to 500, making We Drive Solar the largest V2G project in Europe.
This collaboration between We Drive Solar, Renault, MyWheels, charging infrastructure provider LomboXnet, and research institute eLaadNL is part-funded by the SCALE Project—an EU Horizon research funding programme dedicated to developing smart charging strategies for public charging infrastructure.
Australia Can Learn Without Reinventing the Wheel
Whilst Australia may be a global leader in solar uptake, it is a severe laggard in EV uptake.
We can avoid a lot of unnecessary pilots and trials and head to rapid commercialisation of V2G technology if we learn from the work being conducted in leading markets like the Netherlands and through European initiatives like SCALE and International Energy Agency-sponsored Task 53, which is setting global standards for V2G interoperability.
Without engaging actively and at all levels with these projects, adopting the established and emerging global standards, the rollout of the crucial V2G technology in Australia will be slow.
What’s more, forging our own path on V2G standards will be costly and restrict choice in technology as companies avoid the small and complex Australian market. Australia has a significant contribution to make and a lot to learn.
Opportunities to learn are coming up. SCALE are hosting a knowledge-sharing meeting on 25th November to discuss the initial outcomes of the We Drive Solar Project.
This is a practical session for governments, industry, utilities, and academia to learn the initial lessons for infrastructure deployment and integration into the grid.
Whilst participating in international events can be costly, it is essential for the rapid decarbonisation of the Australian economy. Luckily this event is available online.
Even more fortunately, Portia Rooney, Director of Batteries on Wheels and Net Zero Engineering Solutions, has been funded by the Winston Churchill Trust to learn from We Drive Solar and to attend meetings such as this and a recent Task 53 workshop in Switzerland.
Images Attached credit We Drive Solar/Robin Berg
Ed will be speaking at Everything Electric, part of a panel discussing ‘Next-Gen EVs: What’s Coming Down Under?‘ at 10:30 on Sunday 16th November, hosted by Simone Annan.
Ed Lynch-Bell is Principal at Second Mouse, dedicated to building more sustainable energy tech and mobility products, services and businesses. Ed is also a co-host of the Melbourne and Sydney EV Meet-ups, bringing the e-mobility industry together.