City example integrating local Renewable Energy & Mobility

The Amsterdam Energy City Lab works on different projects and technologies to optimise local clean energy generation and use. The combination of renwables and electric vehicles is an important challenge. The Amsterdam Vehicle 2 Grid project is running since March 2013 and has yielded significant results, promising for further city outroll and replication.

The energy and mobility revolution is here

Solar installations generate renewable electricity during daytime, when demand is low. This mitmatch between production and consumption of energy causes inefficiencies in grid utilization.

This situation is worsened by the presence of Electric Vehicles, that risk to overload the grid if are charged at the same time (for instance, during the evening, when users come back from work). The consequence is an unestable grid, that may have to undergo expensive refurbishment in order to accomodate this energy and mobility revolution.

Vehicle to Grid as solution

Resourcefully supports the Vehicle to Grid scheme in order to obtain one solution from this couple of grid problems. The transition to an smart energy future begins rethinking entire systems, making use of Demand Supply Management and Energy Storage. Electromobility plays an important role here, allowing to store solar energy to later use it in the hours of low production.

Amsterdam V2G demonstrates how e-mobility, renewable energy, domestic electricity usage and the grid  can enforce each other in the smart energy future.

 

More than two years of data

After two years of running, our calculations with Amsterdam V2G yield the following results:

1. The household increased the energy independence or, zero Emission energy autonomy (from 34 to 65% with V2G);
2.  Solid decline in energy exchange with the electricity network 45% less compared to situation without V2G;
3. Storage size efficiency reaches 93%  with 10 kWh storage capacity, this is close to a maximum storage level, more storage capacity contributes little extra;
4. Operational energy losses in storage in DC batteries, and re-conversion when consuming the energy about 80%.
5. Capacity of the battery and the degradation of this after in 2 year time is quite limited (ca. 6-7%).