Vehicle To Grid Technology
Electric vehicles equipped with vehicle-to-grid technology represent a revolution in energy management, but we find ourselves held hostage by outdated regulations and an overly cautious approach from the Australian Energy Market Operator, AEMO. The question we must ask ourselves is this: Australians have committed to achieving net zero, but are we allowing old paradigms to hold us back? To reach this goal we must expand our use of renewable energy while simultaneously shoring up the grid's stability. Both of those things aren't always mutually possible.
The Realising Electric Vehicle-to-grid Services project, a trial run by Dr Bjorn Sturmberg of the Australian National University in Canberra, stands as a model of what's possible—a glimpse into the future where EVs with vehicle-to-grid, V2G, technology strengthen a resilient and flexible energy grid. During the REVS trial, a fleet of just 16 cars responded to a transmission line failure signal by discharging a small portion of their batteries into the grid within seconds. Now imagine if this weren't just a small trial but the norm across Australia. The potential is simply enormous.
The Electric Vehicle Council predicts 1.5 million EVs will be on Australian roads by 2030, and at least 250,000 of these will be vehicle-to-grid enabled. When you extrapolate the fact that, on average, EVs have a battery capacity of approximately 45 kilowatt hours, and the average household uses around 20 kilowatt hours a day, this means every V2G enabled EV has the power to power two household for a whole day or one household for two days—a scenario that would never be called on but is there. The case for every vehicle in Australia to be certified as V2G enabled just gets stronger. So why would Australians buy a wall battery when an EV is just a battery on wheels?
However, we need rules and regulations relevant to our green future. AEMO, the grid operator, is addicted to investing hundreds of billions of dollars in transmission lines, which doesn't address the real issue. The issue is shifting a surplus of power from the middle of the day to later in the day, when it's needed most. More transmission won't do that. The problem isn't the quantity of energy produced but the timing of it. Building more transmission infrastructure doesn't solve this issue; it just increases the costs for energy users.
The technology for V2G integration has proven itself, which has allowed EVs to both power up and discharge back into the grid. They do more than just move us around from place to place. They can power our homes, support our grid and balance our energy needs. While we wait for standards and codes to be released, this potential remains largely untapped. Imagine a future where vehicles could provide the energy needed for frequency control services, stabilising our grid during critical moments. This is not a fantasy. The REVS trial showed that this is a tangible reality. The vacuum of indecision caused by AEMO's overly cautious approach threatens to let this opportunity slip away. Australians are not waiting. Over 50,000 EVs were sold in the first half of this year alone, an increase of 16.5 per cent from the previous year. This tells me that consumers are ready and the technology is ready, but our regulations are not.
