Cenex takes smart lead
Cenex – the UK’s first Centre of Excellence for low carbon and fuel cell technologies – will lead the Smart Mobile Energy project, supported by the Climate KIC.
The Smart Energy Project will investigate how cities can increase energy efficiency and decrease carbon emissions by integrating vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology into the existing energy infrastructure at district and city scale.
The innovative programme will explore how EVs can support energy infrastructure through V2G, using EV batteries as short term storage to manage energy demand at district and city scale in Birmingham, Berlin and Valencia.
At Aston University, in Birmingham, V2G technology is already proven and operating successfully at a building level. This project will allow Cenex to evaluate how the connection and control of multiple V2G installations could be implemented at a district and city scale.
Partnering with the Technical University of Berlin, the University of Valencia, Energy Technology Institute (ITE) and The Foundation of the Valencian Community for Strategic Promotion, Development and Urban Innovation (InnDEA Valencia), Cenex will work with city authorities, grid and energy companies, large building owners and EV fleet operators to carry out the technical assessment and develop the business case for implementing wide scale V2G in districts and whole cities.
Through this pilot, Cenex will evaluate the potential network impacts and business case of V2G in three major European cities. This is important to ensure timely uptake of V2G in the UK and across Europe to help manage the predicted increase in demand on the electricity grid as a result of the growth in EV uptake.
Robert Evans, CEO at Cenex, said, ‘Cenex is delighted to explore the practical and economic implications of using V2G at a city and district scale. This is a critical next step toward accelerating Europe’s move to clean energy.’
