Nissan & EDF Partner To Explore Potential Of Demand Response

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Nissan and EDF Energy have partnered up to explore the potential to leverage second-life plug-in vehicle batteries in EDF’s demand response platform, PowerShift.

The pair of companies are taking a look to the future and using the partnership to see if there is potential to leverage second-life EV batteries as low-cost stationary storage. The combination of grid intelligence and energy storage has the potential to not only save utilities, customers and governments money, as we are seeing with Tesla’s battery pack in South Australia, they also have the potential to extend the reach of renewables as they can enable more peak generation to be stored at a lower cost.

The agreement was signed in Paris and bonds Nissan and EDF Energy together as they jointly work to support smart charging, batteries, decentralized generation and grid integration. In the near term, the two will work to repurpose used Nissan LEAF batteries into a stationary energy storage system.

Batteries are not new, but as prices come down, the potential for their use on the grid as energy storage continues to increase, but not all grid scale batteries are created equally. Nissan and EDF Energy are not simply bolting batteries onto the grid, they are integrating them and adding intelligence through EDF Energy’s PowerShift demand side response technologies. This area, between the physical batteries and the grid, is where batteries have the potential to drive massive disruptions in the grid.

The intelligence being added in this ‘in between’ is where grid scale batteries start to really get exciting. They have the potential to provide shift prices by leveling out the gaps in electricity demand and generation, they can respond to grid-scale events with aggregated demand response capability, they provide power to cover spikes in demand at the local and grid levels, store up excess intermittent renewable generation, in addition to numerous functions that partnerships like this one will work to tease out.

From the outset, the first trial system will help to reduce the demand for peaker plants to startup, thus slashing emissions from day one while providing revenue for the system operator.

“The transition to Electric Vehicles provides huge opportunities for businesses and households, which is why we are investing in the best technology and products to help consumers and business realise the associated benefits,” Beatrice Bigois, Managing Director of Customers at EDF Energy said. “In partnering with Nissan, we’re excited to explore new technologies and business models to make low carbon transport a reality now and for the future.”

As with other pilots by Hyundai, Renault, evGo and others, second life EV batteries present yet another opportunity to make the most of the intersection of the electric vehicle rEVolution and the energy transition to renewables. There are already more lithium-ion batteries being installed in electric vehicles than into consumer electronics and the EV side of that equation is only going to continue to climb.

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Kyle Field

I'm a tech geek passionately in search of actionable ways to reduce the negative impact my life has on the planet, save money and reduce stress. Live intentionally, make conscious decisions, love more, act responsibly, play. The more you know, the less you need. As an activist investor, Kyle owns long term holdings in Tesla, Lightning eMotors, Arcimoto, and SolarEdge.

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