SSE and electric vehicle (EV) smart charging service provider Jedlix have signed a deal to deliver grid balancing services from EVs. The partnership will allow domestic customers with EV charging to provide flexibility into the balancing market at times of system need, while reducing their energy bills.
Stephen Stead, Director of Strategy and Digital Services at SSE Energy Solutions, said: “Acting as a network of hundreds-of-thousands of mobile batteries, EVs can help reduce renewable energy assets’ dependency on traditional battery storage by creating a Virtual Power Plant that can provide the grid with greater system flexibility.
“Our milestone partnership with Jedlix will not only help tackle the grid balancing challenges faced by networks, but reward EV customers for enabling a more sustainable and robust energy system.”
Jedlix, from the Netherlands, has a growing number of car and charge point manufacturers integrated on its cloud platform. In return for flexibility EV drivers are awarded a cashback on top of any savings they make on their energy bill.
SSE’s partnership will help Jedlix users and partners, such as car manufacturers and charge point operators, minimise costs through SSE’s access to the balancing mechanism. The partnership is the latest venture within SSE’s strategy to build a portfolio of distributed energy resources, to provide energy and grid services.
Looking ahead, the two companies envisage entering other flexibility markets such as providing services to the distribution network operators.
Serge Subiron, Jedlix chief executive, said, “We are thrilled to have this cooperation with SSE, one of the leaders in the British energy sector. This has the potential to establish the largest VPP for EVs in the UK. By opening the capacity to bid on the Balancing Mechanism, we have the perfect set up to enable existing and new B2B platform partners and also local energy retailers.”

Further reading
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