Trial of vehicle-to-grid integration to pave the way for greater electric vehicle adoption

Singapore, 9 July 2021 – SP Group (SP) announced the start of its trial of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology. A first in Southeast Asia, SP will test and verify the possibility of tapping energy stored in electric vehicles (EVs) to enhance grid reliability to cater for the demand on the power grid to support more than 600,0002 vehicles when Singapore phases out Internal Combustion Engine vehicles by 2040.

What is vehicle-to-grid?

• V2G technology allows energy transfer between the batteries within an EV and the power grid. This is more sophisticated than uni-directional charging of EVs.
• The application of V2G technology could balance and support our energy grid.
• Renewables such as solar power is intermittent and managing this intermittency is important to ensure a stable power supply to customers. Mitigating intermittency has traditionally been performed by power plants. With energy storage solutions integrated with V2G technology, customers are able to contribute as well. When solar generation drops due to rain or cloud cover, the EVs plugged into the system can balance out the fall in supply. During periods of significant solar generation, the EVs can store the excess energy.

When charged, an electric vehicle stores energy in its Lithium-ion batteries. The vehicular batteries can act as small Energy Storage Systems (ESS). When renewable energy sources such as solar power fluctuate due to weather conditions, these ESSs can be a key solution to transfer energy back to balance the power grid. If V2G technology is proven viable, it can be a win-win for the electricity system and EV owners, acting as a cost-effective solution to supplement the larger ESSs to overcome intermittency while EV owners can be paid for use of the EV batteries when needed.

SP is providing four V2G charging points at SP’s premises for the trial which will be completed in June 2022. It seeks to demonstrate V2G capability and applications including frequency regulation, the injection of power from EVs to reduce demand from traditional sources, mitigation of too high or low voltage in the distribution system, and EV charging during peak and off-peak periods.

Stanley Huang, Group CEO, SP Group, said, “Our trial of vehicle-to-grid integration is another step towards supporting Singapore’s Green energy transformation. At SP, we have dual roles to play. As the national grid operator, we are building a resilient and smart grid for the future, ensuring that our energy system caters to the increased load due to the conversion to EVs. To empower a sustainable energy future, we are proactively investing in and leveraging smart energy solutions to enhance our grid’s capacity for renewable energy sources.”

– Construction+ Online