Nissan launches scheme for EV owners to sell power back to grid

Nissan has introduced an initiative which will allow electrical vehicle (EV) owners in the UK to sell power back to the National Grid.

The programme will involve installing 100 vehicle-to-grid (V2G) units at locations agreed by private and fleet owners of the Nissan LEAF and e-NV200 electric van. Drivers will be given the opportunity to sell stored energy from their car battery back to the National Grid.

Nissan is working with power company Enel, in a bid to revolutionise how energy is supplied to the grid. The V2G technology will allow EVs to be fully integrated into the electricity grid and improve grid capability to handle renewable power.

The project’s researchers have maintained that if all 18,000 EVs in the UK were connected to the energy network, they would generate the equivalent of a power plant with a capacity of 180MW.

Commenting on the initiative, Steven Holliday, non-executive director for the National Grid, said: “At National Grid we are constantly looking to the future to ensure we have the capacity to meet national energy demand – it’s our job to future proof the national transmission network. The rapid uptake of electric vehicles is certainly positive yet could also be challenging if we don’t plan ahead to understand precisely what effect this new technology will have on the electricity system.

“Our Future Energy team predict that there could be up to 700,000 Electric Vehicles in 2020 requiring an extra 500MW of energy. That’s why we support innovative technologies and pioneering projects such as this one that have the potential to make a real difference to the way we manage energy supply and demand.”

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