SSE has signed a deal with smart charging company Jedlix to harness the technology from electric vehicle (EV) charging to better manage grid supply and demand.
The partnership aims to allow domestic customers with EV charging to provide flexibility into the balancing market at times of system need, while reducing their energy bills.
Figures from August show that there were more than 600,000 plug-in vehicles registered in the UK. Last year saw the biggest annual increase in the number of registrations, with growth of 66% compared to 2019, according to Nextgreencar.
Dutch-based Jedlix is one of the largest smart charging service providers in Europe and has a growing number of car and charge point manufacturers integrated on its cloud platform. In return for their flexibility, EV drivers are awarded a cashback on top of any savings they make on their energy bill.
SSE’s partnership should help Jedlix users and partners, such as car manufacturers and charge point operators, to minimise costs through access to the balancing mechanism.
Stephen Stead, director of strategy and digital services at SSE Energy Solutions, said: “The significant increase in EVs also has the added potential benefit of enhancing power generation - boosting the capacities of distributed and renewable energy resources across the country.
“Acting as a network of hundreds-of-thousands of mobile batteries, EVs can help reduce renewable energy assets’ dependency on traditional battery storage by creating a Virtual Power Plant that can provide the grid with greater system flexibility.”
Serge Subiron, chief executive at Jedlix, added: “By opening the capacity to bid on the balancing mechanism, we have the perfect set up to enable existing and new B2B platform partners and also local energy retailers.
“We welcome local innovators in the e-mobility and energy domain to join our initiative to make sure any EV driver charging in any situation can benefit from smart charging.”
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