The FCA group and ENGIE Eps started, at the Mirafiori factory in Turin, the works for the realization of the first phase of the Vehicle-to-Grid or V2G project , which aims at the interaction between electric vehicles (EV) and the energy distribution network.
In addition to ensuring the charging of electric vehicles, the process uses car batteries to stabilize the network. Due to its energy storage capacity, using the V2G infrastructure, the batteries return energy to the grid when needed. Result? Optimization of vehicle exercise costs and the promise of contributing to a more sustainable electricity grid.
Thus, for the first phase of this project, the Drosso logistics center was opened in the Mirafiori factory complex. There will be 64 directional charging points (in 32 V2G columns), with a maximum power of 50 kW, fed by approximately 10 km of cables (which will connect the electricity network). The entire infrastructure and control system were designed, patented and built by ENGIE EPS, and the FCA group expects them to be operational by July.
Up to 700 electric vehicles connected
According to the group, by the end of 2021 this infrastructure will have the capacity to connect up to 700 electric vehicles. In the final configuration of the project, up to 25 MW of regulation capacity will be supplied. Looking at the numbers, this “Virtual Power Factory”, as the FCA group calls it, “will have the capacity to provide a high level of resource optimization, for the equivalent of 8500 homes” and a range of services to the network operator , including ultra-fast frequency regulation.
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Roberto Di Stefano, FCA's head of e-Mobility for the EMEA region, said that this project is an experimental laboratory for the development of a “value-added offer to the energy markets”.
“On average, vehicles can go unused for 80-90% of the day. During this long period, if they are connected to the grid using Vehicle-to-Grid technology, customers can receive free money or energy in exchange for the stabilization service, without compromising in any way their own mobility requirements”, says Di Stefano.
For the responsible, the main objective of the partnership with ENGIE EPS is to reduce the life cycle cost of electric vehicles of the FCA group through specific offers.
In turn, Carlalberto Guglielminotti, CEO of ENGIE Eps, believes that this project will help stabilize the network and estimates that in five years "the total storage capacity of electric vehicles in Europe will be around 300 GWh", which represents the largest energy distribution source available on the European electricity grid.
Guglielminotti concluded that soon this Mirafiori project will be accompanied by a solution aimed at all company fleets.
Consult Fleet Magazine for more articles on the automotive market.
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