Nottingham gears up for EV rollout with EU-backed vehicle-to-grid trial

The Council has invested in 40 new EVs to support the infrastructure trials

Nottingham is one of four European cities that have been selected as pilot sites for CleanMobilEnergy – a project backed by € 4.29m of EU funding which will utilise various clean energy systems and V2G technologies to support regional EV rollouts.

The Council has purchased 40 new EVs to trial a V2G concept at its Eastcroft Depot site – a waste transfer facility – through an innovative energy management system. The project combines three main elements: solar panels at the Eastcroft Depot to generate electricity, a large battery to store energy until required, and a fleet of EVs for additional storage and operational purposes.

The Council has also said that it plans to use the system to bid into ancillary services and trial selling flexible power.

Nottingham City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Energy and the Environment Sally Longford said: “Nottingham is leading the way when it comes to green transport and, as a Council, we’re on track to convert over 20% of our fleet to ultra-low-emission vehicles by 2020.

“The 40 new vehicles we are planning to buy go further than that and embrace a revolutionary concept of using stationary vehicles as energy stores to resupply the power grid. On average, domestic cars sit idle for 95% of the time, and this project allows them not only to be charged, but also to feed electricity stored within their batteries back to the grid or nearby buildings.

“This creates a smart, two-directional flow of energy which meets local energy demands and reduces strain on the electricity supply grid.

“As more and more people own and use electric cars, we are once again at the forefront – dramatically rethinking the way we use our cars and vans and seeing this as an opportunity to modernise rather than a problem to overcome.”

CleanMobilEnergy, which is funded via Interreg North-West Europe and is working to a timeline of 2017-21, will integrate various clean energy sources, storage devices and EVs through a single intelligent Energy Management System (iEMS). The iEMS will assure the smart integration of V2G systems through interoperability based on open standards for data flows and analysis.

The project is also supporting a similar V2G pilot in London, along with pilots in Arnhem in the Netherlands and Schwäbisch Gmünd in Germany.

James Evison