Nissan and Italian utility Enel are carrying out trials of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) systems with some 100 cars across Europe. In Denmark, fleet operators will collect about 1,300 euros ($1,530) a year by feeding power back into the grid using the two-way charge points.

As EVs proliferate, grid managers will have to pay attention to when motorists draw power from the system. Bloomberg expects power consumption from vehicles to grow from 6 terawatt-hours today to 1,800 terawatt-hours in 2040. V2G technology could turn the challenge into an advantage by enabling EV batteries to help balance supply and demand

“If you [blindly] deploy in the market a massive number of electric cars without any visibility or control over the way they impact the electricity grid, you might create new problems,” Francisco Carranza, Director of Energy Services at Nissan Europe, told Bloomberg.

While Nissan’s trial is taking place in several countries, it’s only in Denmark that vehicle owners can currently be paid. In the UK, utility market regulations require at least 150 cars to participate in the program before owners could get paid, but that could happen by the end of this year, said Carranza. “It’s feasible. It’s just a matter of finding the appropriate business model to deploy the business wide-scale.’’

Source: Bloomberg