UPDATED: Electric Nation has anounced British Gas as the final partner in its Electric Nation vehicle to grid V2G project. It has aleady announced Igloo Energy and Green Energy UK as supplier partners, along with Flexitricity, which provides flexibility to the grid operator.
Twenty-five applicants to the Electric Nation V2G trial will be offered the opportunity to join the project with British Gas on its two-rate fixed ‘Electric Drivers’ (electricity-only) tariff for the one-year customer trial. With the British Gas and CrowdCharge proposition, for each three-month period during the one-year customer trial, the trial participant should complete two months with at least 15 full plug-in cycles (a full plug-in cycle means that the car is plugged in from 6pm to 5am), and one month with at least the minimum of 10 full plug-in cycles completed. In return, the participant can enjoy one of two chosen incentives.
Igloo Energy is already an energy partner. Matt Clemow, chief executive and founder of Igloo Energy, said: “We are very excited to take part in the project with CrowdCharge and look forward to learning how people will interact with Vehicle to Grid technology. At Igloo we are always looking for ways to help people save energy and reduce their carbon footprint, and V2G charging offers electric vehicle owners an opportunity to achieve both. Alongside our efforts to help homes transition from fossil fuel heating systems to low carbon systems such as air source heat pumps, helping households get the best value when using their electric vehicle is crucial, especially as their adoption grows.” WPD said the Igloo Pioneer tariff will suit participants who prefer simple energy tariffs that do not vary by time of day.
Green Energy UK was the first supplier partners. Twenty-five applicants to the Electric Nation V2G trial will be offered the opportunity to join the project with the Green Energy UK and CrowdCharge proposition. Green Energy UK supplies 100% renewable electricity and 100% green gas. In 2017 was the first UK energy supplier to offer residential customers a time of use (TOU) tariff.
But the trial includes a two-rate export tariff, so if an EV is plugged in and available at peak times they can earn V2G benefits, exporting electricity to support the grid, and recovering it at a lower cost overnight (.
EV drivers will inform the CrowdCharge platform when they next need their car and how much energy (or how many miles) they will need for the next day.
Electric Nation is recruiting 100 Nissan EV owners to take part in the trial, with free installation of the V2G smart chargers worth £5,500. Over 575 EV drivers have applied to join Electric Nation so far. Recruitment remains open to ensure the project secures 100 participants that meet all the eligibility criteria.
Trial applicants must:
• Be resident in the WPD areas.
• Have a Nissan EV with a battery capacity of at least 30kWh or more
• Have the vehicle until the end of the trial (March 2022)
• Have off-road parking
• Use the CrowdCharge mobile app to manage charging
• Be prepared to switch to a new energy tariff if required by their assigned project energy supplier
• Be prepared to have a new smart meter put in or updated.
For more information and to apply to join the project visit www.electricnation.org.uk
Further reading
Challenger supplier Green Energy UK offers ‘time of day’ tariff