Electric vehicle ‘mega battery’ pitched for greener energy storage future
Hybrid and all-electric vehicles could support further renewable energy generation by becoming a nationwide ‘mega battery’ that regulates and buffers supply and demand, according to a Professor of Energy Technology at the University of Southampton.
Professor Andy Cruden highlights two-way vehicle-to-grid storage as a larger and cheaper alternative to stationary large battery systems in a new article in The Conversation.
The Head of the Energy Technology Research Group says that if all licensed vehicles in the UK stored an average of 50kWh of energy and connected via a 7kW charger, then a nationwide capacity would be available over 15 times the size of the currently planned large battery storage.
The UK government recently announced the removal of planning barriers to building energy storage projects over 50MW in England and 350MW in Wales. This will enable the creation of significant new energy storage capacity.
“While the government is correct that the national grid needs more energy storage to support the shift to further renewable energy generation, a focus on building large, expensive batteries isn’t necessarily the answer,” he writes.
“Instead, electric vehicles could enable the British public to conveniently share their cars to help create a cleaner, more altruistic post-COVID world.”
Read Professor Cruden’s article in full on The Conversation.