Virta and Marubeni Launch Vehicle to Grid and Vehicle to Building Proof of Concept in the UK

Virta is starting a Proof of Concept ("PoC") in the UK with Marubeni Corporation to explore the commercialization of Vehicle to Grid and Vehicle to Building services. The technology has the potential to cut both costs and CO2 emissions across the power system.  

Vehicle to Grid (V2G) is a smart charging technology that enables vehicles to communicate with the power grid. With V2G, the charged power from a car battery can be pushed back to the grid whenever needed. 

“V2G has enormous potential to deliver major savings - both in financial terms for electricity system operators and vehicle fleets, and in environmental terms, by significantly cutting CO2 emissions across the power system”, explains Virta’s UK Sales Director Stuart Tolley.  

Vehicle to Building (“V2B”) on the other hand creates a balance within the local environment. The electric vehicle is used to help to increase self-consumption of the energy produced on-site (demand charge avoidance). The financial benefits of using stored energy during peak times are well documented and the multiplier found with electric fleet solutions incorporating V2G are proven.

Global Leader In V2G Technology

Virta has been a global pioneer in V2G and other energy management solutions since 2013. Since 2019 Virta has provided both software solutions and cutting-edge hardware to the market in the UK for large and small projects.  
 
“We want to provide the best solutions for businesses looking to embrace e-mobility and maximize the potential savings created when energy is at its cheapest”, says Tolley.  

The V2G solution from Virta can improve the performance of the electricity grid in areas such as efficiency, stability, and reliability. A V2G-capable vehicle offers reactive power support, active power regulation, tracking of variable renewable energy sources, load balancing, and current harmonic filtering. These technologies can enable ancillary services, such as voltage and frequency control and spinning reserve.

POC Aims To Deliver a Commercialized Solution To Market

The UK Market has a large amount of renewable energy at business and commercial locations often providing energy to the grid, offsetting the costs of peak energy use. V2X brings further benefits to the power market.  

Vehicle to everything (“V2X”) is being trialed all over the UK to establish the opportunities surrounding the mobile battery storage presented by electric vehicles. With the expected increase in electric vehicles during 2021 and beyond, this PoC lead by Marubeni and including internal business partners Marubeni Europe Plc (“MEU”), power and gas retailer Smartest Energy Limited (“SEL”), new power business development business Marubeni Europower Limited (“MEL”) and vehicle sales Marubeni Auto Investment (UK) Limited (“MAIUK”) is expected to deliver a commercialized solution to market whilst contributing to our desire for a low carbon society.   

The PoC is at the Nissan dealership in Letchworth Garden City and is focused on delivering factual information regarding:

• Peak shifting and shaving using the on-site solar generation and Electric vehicles (“EV’s”).
• Power trading using the EV’s as flexibility, while considering the “EV use as mobility” with charging and discharging schedules and time of use
• The commercialization of the bidirectional energy management

Virta has been selected as a trusted partner in the PoC by Marubeni and will deliver two V2G chargers alongside an energy management solution for control optimization of the V2G element of the project. In addition to the support of Virta there will be direct integration with partners to the project Origami Energy Limited (“Origami”) and Grid Edge Limited (“Gridedge”).

For more information about the PoC project, please visit this page.

For more information about the VG2 and V2X technology, read more here.

About Virta

Virta is the forerunner in electric vehicle charging platform technologies. Over 300 customers with over 50 EV charging brands from 28 countries are currently operating their EV charging services on the Virta platform. The company has been ranked as the fastest-growing electric vehicle charging platform in Europe by the Financial Times on its 2020 FT 1000 list. Virta's technology has received several awards. The company has been recognized as the best Energy brand at Charge Awards 2018 and received the Technology Innovation Award from Frost & Sullivan consulting. www.virta.global/