Munich/Pforzheim, April 25, 2024 – In the coming years, e-mobility is set to play an increasingly important role in the energy transition. But it’s about much more than driving on climate-neutral electricity from renewable sources: The batteries of electric vehicles can be used as temporary storage. And it’s not just vehicle owners who benefit from this: In the medium-term, bidirectional charging can take the burden off distribution grids while making them more flexible. Power2Drive Europe, the international exhibition for charging infrastructure and e-mobility, showcases the latest state of the art. On the day before the exhibition opens, the regulatory changes needed for bidirectional charging will be discussed at the Power2Drive Europe Conference. Power2Drive Europe is part of The smarter E Europe, the continent’s largest alliance of exhibitions for the energy industry, and will take place from June 19–21, 2024, at Messe München. The Power2Drive Europe Conference will also be held here on June 18 and 19.
There are three types of applications that bidirectional charging of EV traction batteries can be used for: In vehicle-to-home (V2H) and vehicle-to-building (V2B) solutions, the storage and consumption of the electricity takes place entirely in the user’s system, meaning in a private household or a company, behind the meter. In vehicle-to-grid (V2G) solutions, the e-car is part of the power system and can provide flexibility services to the distribution grid by storing electricity and feeding it back into the grid.
In the very near future, numerous end users, both residential and commercial, will be able to benefit from behind-the-meter solutions. As with stationary storage systems, temporary storage systems can be used to increase the self-consumption of your self-generated electricity, for example, from your own photovoltaics (PV) system. You can save a lot of money by taking advantage of time-dependent and peak-load-dependent flexible tariffs under Section 41a of the German Energy Industry Act (EnWG). With all major vehicle manufacturers are already working on vehicles capable of bidirectional charging and some of the first models on the market, we can expect this area to undergo a dynamic development in the coming years.
The basic regulatory legal framework is still missing for the V2G solutions that are immediately useful for the grid to work. Markus Elsässer explains that “Bidirectional charging will be a decisive element of the energy transition. The technology has the potential of effectively taking the burden off distribution grids and making the more flexible.” The Founder and CEO of Solar Promotion GmbH, further remarks: “The double burden of grid charges, surcharges and levies on temporarily stored electricity in particular must be eliminated. In my opinion, it is vital that ‘green’ electricity retains its status when temporarily stored in e-car batteries.”
V2G bidirectional charging would create additional benefits for e-car operators, as they would an integral part of the electricity system, and thus of the electricity markets. However, Markus Fendt, Managing Director of The Mobility House and one of Germany’s mobility transition pioneers, emphasizes the societal and economic importance of this application: “There are a number of reasons why V2G bidirectional charging is useful and crucial: It dramatically reduces redispatch, thereby minimizing the number of renewable energy systems that need to be curtailed. Based on the price of electricity alone, every electric car could have been driven 40,000 kilometers at no extra cost in 2022. V2G bidirectional charging has the potential to accelerate the mobility transition and make it cheaper without additional funding. It also reduces the need for grid expansion. What’s more, V2G solutions could help residential PV systems pay for themselves more quickly. And last but not least, we would realize innovation in our leading industry, the automotive industry, in Germany.
Within the range of topics at The smarter E Europe, e-mobility is becoming more important and recognized: In a survey, a third of the trade visitors of all exhibitions of The smarter E Europe expressed an interest in the topic e-mobility. Consequently, the exhibition space of Power2Drive Europe has been expanded by 80 percent compared to the previous year.
The importance of e-mobility is reflected in the Power2Drive Europe Conference, which will serve as an industry meeting point for debates and discussions between experts, key players and pioneers of the new kind of mobility on June 18 and 19, 2024. This year, we received a record number of applications for panels, presentations and forums. Session partners of the conference include the Charging Interface Initiative (CharIn e.V.), the Dutch knowledge and innovation center for smart charging infrastructure, ElaadNL, the ISEA Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives at the RWTH Aachen University, SBD Automotive’s specialists for integrated and the specialists for integrated and autonomous driving, and the European Association for Electromobility AVERE.
Power2Drive Europe and the parallel events Intersolar Europe, ees Europe and EM-Power Europe will take place from June 19–21, 2024 as part of the innovation hub The smarter E Europe, Europe’s largest alliance of exhibitions for the energy industry, at Messe München.
