New practitioner article published on the potential and challenges of bidirectional charging
Although bidirectional charging of electric vehicles could support the integration of renewable energy into the electricity system, its future remains uncertain. How could the implementation of bidirectional charging look like and which challenges remain?
Based on the analysis of a database and expert interviews, the new practitioner article by Christine Gschwendtner and Annegret Stephan discusses current trends in the implementation of pilot projects as well as uncertainties and knowledge gaps related to bidirectional charging. The study analyzes different combinations of three characteristics of pilot projects: vehicle use types, charging locations, and provided services to the electricity grids. The results show that commercial vehicles that charge at work and provide Vehicle-to-Customer services as well as Vehicle-to-Grid services at transmission level dominate the implemented projects. More diverse implementations, including services at the distribution level, could however reduce the risk resulting from behavioral components, support spatial and temporal load shifting, and increase revenue. The article also discusses differences in expert opinions, indicating uncertainties, and knowledge gaps in technical, social, and regulatory aspects of bidirectional charging. While the possibility to avoid distribution grid reinforcements and potentially required incentives for steering plug-in behavior are uncertain, the demand and supply of flexible load and their coordination at the distribution level are unknown. The article concludes by suggesting steps forward to tackle the identified challenges.
The article is available Downloadherevertical_align_bottom (only in German)