On Grid Resiliency, Electric Vehicles Can Give as Well as They Get

As electric vehicle sales continue to rise, so are concerns about the impact on the U.S. power grid. Reopening closed fossil fuel power plants and building new ones are suddenly on the table. But solutions for EVs on the road and after, when the battery finds a second life in a stationary energy storage array, could render those steps unnecessary.

EV charging and the U.S. power grid

There is no real consensus on how the grid will be impacted when millions of U.S. drivers switch to EVs, partly because the technology to resolve the issue is already emerging.
 
EV drivers have actually been contributing to grid resiliency for over a decade. Charging outside of peak demand periods is one common practice, and vehicle-to-grid charging enables drivers to send electricity from their battery to the grid when needed. Some energy providers also provide information that helps EV drivers charge up when more renewable energy is available.

There is an additional bonus in terms of battery life. Research shows that a fully charged battery degrades more quickly when the car is sitting for a period of time. That provides EV drivers with an incentive to discharge their battery to the grid whenever convenient. If the driver has charged up on renewable energy, so much the better.

These practices are currently scattershot among utilities, though. Advocates say supporting standard public policies that center demand-response programs and vehicle-to-grid technology, and leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to build more efficiencies into the practice, could turn EVs from a risk to a benefit for grid resilience. 

A second life for used EV batteries with renewable energy

The EV batteries of today can perform 200,000 miles of driving or more, and new research indicates that further increases in driving lifespan are possible. But the connection between grid resilience and renewable energy continues even after the battery is removed from the car. Multiple batteries can be combined to form a stationary energy storage system. Innovators have been demonstrating small-scale, second-life battery systems for years, and now the field is beginning to scale up and enter the marketplace

A 53-megawatt, grid-connected, second-life energy storage facility in Texas, for example, has been in commercial operation since last spring under the wing of the startup Element Energy. The facility was officially commissioned on November 21, with Element billing it as the "world’s largest second-life, grid-connected battery installation."

The facility consists of 900 EV batteries that can draw power from the Texas grid to charge up. A connection to a nearby wind farm also enables the batteries to store renewable energy and send it to the grid.

The grid-connected factor is particularly complicated in Texas, which is the nation's leader in installed wind power capacity and just behind California for the top spot in installed solar. The state ranks high in EV adoption as well. That means a new energy storage system has to function effectively in a grid that is constantly balancing copious amounts of intermittent energy resources while accounting for demand. If such a system can function efficiently in Texas, it can work practically anywhere, and Element already has plans for additional projects. 

Don’t just sit there, do something

To be clear, electric vehicles have had little, if anything, to do with the recent surge in electricity demand across the U.S.. Energy observers agree that the bulk of the demand stems from the AI boom and the consequent rush to build new data centers.

The data center issue raises serious questions about the about the ability of technology firms — and their clients — to meet their own climate goals. If new data centers require new gas-fired power plants to power them, what does that say about corporate climate action?

Some data center stakeholders have actually done something about it. Instead of adding more demand to the grid, they are investing in renewable energy resources to offset their power use.

As for EV drivers and fleet managers, the opportunity is already in place to do something. EVs are essentially mobile energy units that can be coordinated to support grid stability and renewable energy. And utilities are beginning to rise to the opportunity by making everyone who drives an EV a partner in a resilient, reliable power grid.