Finland Gets Its 1st Public Bidirectional V2G Charging Station
Finland recently had its first public, bidirectional electric vehicle charging point installed in its capital, Helsinki.
What this means is that the country now has its first vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capable electric vehicle (EV) charging point — where it’s possible for electricity stored in an EV’s battery pack to be fed back into the grid, rather than just conversely (electricity from the grid being fed into an EV’s battery pack).
The new V2G-enabled charging point is joined at the site with an existing solar PV energy installation and a stationary energy storage system.
“With the V2G charging point we can utilize the battery of a car as a part of the energy system. In the future EVs are not just a burden, but a complementary feature in the electricity grid. Helen is testing the practical operation of V2G at the Suvilahti pilot site,” stated Helen’s Unit Manager Perttu Lahtinen.
The press release provides more: “The installed bidirectional charging device is a result of cooperation between Virta, Helen and Nissan. Only a few similar V2G charging stations are publicly available elsewhere in Europe.
“The V2G charging point in Suvilahti will be a public charging station, and in the test phase it will be free of charge for Virta end users. The V2G functionality will be implemented so that the vehicle battery will be fully charged despite supporting the electricity network. In the initial stage, the V2G charging point will be suitable for Nissan electric vehicles.”
“Our joint project with Helen and Virta is the first step towards a fully integrated ecosystem in electric vehicle use in Finland. The development possibilities in energy management are better than ever before with the merging energy and vehicle sectors. Nissan sees electric vehicles as more than just a means of transport: the batteries of electric vehicles can also be utilised as mobile energy sources,” commented Nissan’s Zero Emission Strategy Manager Jarkko Ahlbom.
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