Wellington to transform grid with Greensync’s electric vehicle “mesh”

The Driven

A new way of managing the grid with the help of electric vehicles will be implemented in the New Zealand capital city of Wellington under a partnership announced on Wednesday between Melbourne-based Greensync and energy provider Wellington Electricity.

The partnership will see a new business model piloted, called EV Connect, that will integrate electric vehicles (EVs) with the grid when being charged effectively transforming them into a distributed “mesh” that could keep electricity prices in tow while addressing the pressing needs of additional demand on the grid.

New Zealand is a country with a higher than average mix of renewables –  around 80% of power in New Zeland comes from renewable sources, lead largely by hydro (60%) and geothermal (17%).

In Australia, a high mix of renewables is highly criticised by the conservative federal government which suggests that “when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine”, energy supply will become unreliable and expensive.

As electric mobility drives forwards – and particularly so in New Zealand where the penetration of electric vehicles is far ahead that of Australia, and is predicted to reach 64,000 by 2021 – the extra demand on the grid by charging electric vehicles has been pegged as a potential negative if not managed.

Greensync wants to turn it into a positive, by integrating and managing the charging of electric vehicle batteries as part of the electricity grid, in what is believed to be a first for the Asia Pacific region.

In an exclusive interview with The Driven, GreenSync CEO Phil Blythe says the motivation behind the second phase pilot program (a first proof-of-concept has already been conducted), is to provide added flexibility through a distributed energy resource (such as EVs).

To read the full story, please go to  RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle dedicated site, The Driven, click here…