Last updated: 08:15am, 9th Oct 2021
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More InformationWe're taking people from our community with your average Kiwi vehicles, and we're switching them out for electric ones in our upcoming Vehicle to Grid (V2G) trial.
They'll be set up with all the gear so that they can pull power from the grid to charge the car, and then back from the car to power their house if needed. Our customers will be among the first in New Zealand to get hands-on experience with using the latest technology.
Co-Funded with EECA, this trial will help us understand how V2G technology can benefit both electricity networks and consumers. We’ll be monitoring how energy use is affected by utilising the EV as an energy source, and any impacts on our network – along with investigating the potential of customer technologies to ultimately help reduce costs for all network users.
For this trial we will be providing 3 customers with a Nissan Leaf electric vehicle (EV) and all the technology they need to plug-in the vehicle at their home, workplace and at public charging stations.
We’re doing this to monitor what the impacts of using V2G technology are on Northpower’s network, and how we can all benefit by utilising this model in the future. If it goes well, we could potentially see EV’s becoming part of our future smart network.
V2G technology has the potential to enable interaction between our electricity network and EVs – turning them into a key part of a smart electricity network. EVs with V2G technology could be used to support parts of the electricity network and also have applications in crisis management and power outages. For example, your car could power your some critical elements of your home during a power cut!
This model may reduce costs for both consumers and the network by enabling more EVs to plug into our network. This could lower the constructing costs for new network assets to cater for demand if EVs become part of our network and in turn could mean lower cost of electricity for our customers.
V2G technology can take advantage of the benefits of new electricity pricing structures, by charging and storing electricity when our network is less busy and energy prices are cheaper, and utilising it at peak periods (supported by Northpower’s new ‘time of use’ pricing structures).
Follow along as we compare costs, give you data and we’ll keep you update here on the results and findings from the trial.
Watch this space for further updates as the trial takes off!