EV Energy given grant for grid charging pilot

Surrey based firm EV Energy have been awarded an additional £295,000 of government funding for their electric vehicle charging pilot programme, ‘Maximise Grid Services.’

The pilot assists UK Power Network (UKPN) customers in the South East, to charge their electric vehicles without negatively affecting the supply grid during peak demand times.

The award by Innovate UK, the UK’s national innovation agency, was made on behalf of the government and brings their total funding of the project to £754,000. ev.energy plan to share its technology and business case with other utilities in order to expand the use of energy flexibility and assist the transition from fossil to renewable fuels.

Innovate UK has provided the grant through its Prospering from the Energy Revolution programme.

UKPN consumers and EV owners in Essex, Norfolk can participate in the Maximise Grid Services´ programme. The pilot aims to develop a virtual power plant using electric vehicles.

The Energy Savings Trust predicts there will be between 8 and 11 million EVs on UK roads by 2030 and this is one strand of UK Government efforts to prepare the grid for the increase in electric transportation.

Launched in December 2021 the pilot uses an ev.energy software platform to regulate energy flow. Ev.energy also provide electric vehicle charging services to drivers in Europe, the US, Australia and Asia.

Sotiris Georgiopoulos, Head of Smart Grid Development at UK Power Networks, said: “While these localised Virtual Power Plants are currently small in scale, they demonstrate the significant potential that can be unlocked from smart charging as the number of electric vehicles increases.

“By using apps like ev.energy, smart charging can make electric vehicles part of the solution for a clean, reliable and affordable electricity grid that benefits everyone.”

Damien Kelly, Innovation Lead at Innovate UK, said: “Localised systems to balance electricity demand, storage and supply are likely to play a vital role in helping the UK get to next zero. Innovative services using electric vehicles to provide flexibility to the grid have great potential and we look forward to supporting the scale-up and wider demonstration of ev.energy’s Maximising Grid Services project.”