San Francisco-based eMotorWerks is demonstrating the grid balancing potential of its smart-grid EV chargers with a 30-megawatt, distributed “virtual energy storage battery,” which has been active in California since the start of 2017.

With an energy capacity of 70 MWh and eMotorWerks’s JuiceNet cloud software platform as the Battery Management System (BMS), the eMotorWerks virtual battery is active in California Independent System Operator (CAISO) wholesale day-ahead and real-time markets, dynamically managing charging loads to balance grid demand, reduce wholesale energy costs and mitigate the intermittency of renewables.

The virtual battery is made up of over 6,000 of eMotorWerks’s JuiceNet-enabled chargers, spread across the state and concentrated in the major population centers. By controlling them through the company’s cloud-connected JuiceNet software, and enrolling EV drivers to participate in rewards programs, eMotorwerks is delivering grid services such as demand response capacity on a daily basis, with the capital outlay borne by EV drivers instead of utilities.

“Having proved at scale capabilities that no other EV charging technology has accomplished, eMotorWerks is aggregating and bidding EV loads at the wholesale level,” said Val Miftakhov, CEO of eMotorWerks. “Our intelligent platform already delivers on grid integration, wholesale energy cost reduction and renewables integration with cost-effective load aggregation. It’s time for utilities around the country and the world to take advantage of these capabilities and help grow this virtual battery to support our shared electrification and decarbonization goals.”

“Through eMotorWerks’ virtual battery aggregations, EV drivers themselves can participate in the overall health of our grid,” said David Schlosberg, eMotorWerks VP of Energy Market Operations. “Collectively, we have the opportunity to future-proof our electricity systems now by ensuring EV grid integration ‘off the lot’ to prepare for a reliable electricity system dominated by EVs, renewable energy and storage.”

Source: eMotorWerks