Australia to fund 130-vehicle commercial V2G trial
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has committed AU$4 million to a project which will deploy vehicle-to-grid technology across a fleet of 130 EVs. The three-year project aims to explore whether fleets can reduce operating costs by providing grid services without compromising on day-to-day operations.
Image: Tritium
The funding has been allocated to charging infrastructure company JET Charge, which will lead the Realising Electric Vehicle-to-Grid Services 2 (REVS2) project. This will see the fleet of vehicles paired with bidirectional chargers, enabling them to feed power back into the grid when needed. JET Charge will upgrade its charging management system to coordinate charging and discharging in response to electricity tariffs, vehicle availability and grid requirements.
Meanwhile, energy company ActewAGL will provide a virtual power plant tariff structure, while the Australian National University will study the commercial benefits and share findings with the wider fleet sector. The project is scheduled to run until June 2029.
This new initiative builds upon an early REVS trial which was funded by ARENA in 2020 and demonstrated that EVs could provide grid services. The new project shifts focus towards commercial viability, testing how fleet operators can be incentivised to supply electricity and whether the resulting revenue can improve the total cost of ownership of EVs.
Calling the project an important step towards widespread adoption of V2G, ARENA CEO Darren Miller: “This project builds on the success of Australia’s first vehicle-to-grid trial by tackling a key missing piece for bidirectional charging in Australia: how large fleets can be incentivised to support the grid while still meeting their day-to-day transport needs. It will provide real-world evidence on how fleets can be rewarded to use their electric vehicles to support the grid, helping make the switch to electric vehicles more attractive for fleet operators.”
“We know vehicle-to-grid technology works – we helped show that in the original REVS project,” JET Charge CEO Tim Washington said.Now we need to prove it makes commercial sense. If we can help fleets reduce their operating costs by supporting the grid, that’s a business case any CEO can get behind.”
The new funding forms part of wider efforts by the Australian government to make electricity networks more flexible as renewable energy generation grows. In July, we reported on an allocation of AU$30 million to 14 projects under the government’s Grid Enhancing Technologies programme, including V2G and smart EV charging.