Australia Finally Charts Course To Bidirectional EV Charging Bounty

Bidirectional charging has long been the white whale of electric vehicle owners in Australia, and at long last ARENA has released a chart revealing where this elusive leviathan of energy storage can be found.

The National Roadmap for Bidirectional EV Charging, commissioned by ARENA and the RACE for 2030 Cooperative Research Centre, details what governments and industry need to do so Australians can use their EV batteries to power their homes and feed into the broader energy grid.

The report found that international suppliers of bidirectional charging products have been dissuaded by Australia’s jumble of network connection policies and smart-grid integration architectures that are “novel, opaque and jurisdictionally fragmented”.

ARENA CEO Darren Miller said:

“By the early 2030s, the battery capacity of our electric vehicle fleet is projected to outstrip all other forms of energy storage in the National Electricity Market. With estimates suggesting 1.5 million EVs on Australian roads by 2030, even 10% of those adopting V2G could meet 37% of the NEM’s total storage needs while also giving Australians control over their contribution to the clean energy transition.”

Circle These Five Points on The Map

The roadmap highlights five key action areas for Australia to get moving on bidirectional charging:

• A national policy commitment to send an unequivocal signal to local and international stakeholders that Australian
  governments will proactively support EV charging products and services;
• Time-limited installation rebates to catalyse the supply of bidirectional charging products and services to enable early market deployment;
• National Electricity Rule changes requiring all networks to offer dynamic network pricing products to willing customers in relevant areas;
• Clear direction on interoperability standards to enable efficient business and consumer investment;
• Clarity on the national smart grid.

Three Different Ways to Harvest Your EV Battery

The report acknowledges three forms of bidirectional charging:

• Vehicle to Grid (V2G) – EVs supply power to a mains electrical circuit that is electrically connected to the grid;
• Vehicle to Homes and Buildings (V2H/B) – EVs supply power to local electrical distribution system that is electrically separated from the grid, such as off-grid or during a power outage;
• Vehicle to Load (V2L) – EVs that supply power directly to one or more electrical appliances.

If you want a more detailed explainer, take a look at our breakdown of V2G, V2H and V2L.

The roadmap’s stakeholders found that Australia’s estimated 300,000 V2G capable EVs by 2030 represent the highest-value and most scalable application, with residential use likely to dominate. They did not recommend bidirectional charging capability for public charging equipment at this stage.

A Lucrative Bounty

Stakeholders consulted for the plan identified four key value streams:

• Energy arbitrage – the ability to discharge energy during periods of high energy prices, benefiting all consumers by reducing power system requirements for large-scale generation and storage.
• Network support – making the most of excess daytime solar production by charging during the day and discharging during extreme demand peaks, reducing network prices for all.
• Alternative power supply – EVs can work as a mobile power generator during grid outages, so can provide generation capacity in scenarios such as in the wake of a natural disaster.
• Frequency response – bidirectional charging in ISO 15118-20 ‘dynamic mode’ is capable of providing very fast frequency response, however the market for these services is considered to be relatively shallow and easily saturated by alternatives.

CHAdeMO Users Stranded At Sea

The National Roadmap recommends action begin this year to get moving on bidirectional charging.

The report sets out a vision for bidirectional charging to be “readily available to provide high-value services across the Australian economy by 2030, with several products available by 2027”, envisioning that hundreds of thousands of households could be using it to reduce their power bills by 2030, and millions by 2040.

That’s exciting news for those millions of Australians in 15 years time, but a long way off for those driving around EVs that use the CHAdeMO charging connector and are already capable of bidirectional charging.

The report estimates that 30,000 V2G-capable Nissan LEAFs and Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV customers in Australia will not be able to access bidirectional charging that meets Australian grid codes, noting that “some of these customers purchased these vehicles due to their bidirectional capabilities and they have been left stranded by failures in our (AS/NZ 4777.2) standards development and product certification frameworks”.

With the Combined Charging System (CCS) connector emerging as the dominant charging option in Australia, the report warns CHAdeMO is likely to be phased out in the coming years, so the bidirectional charging strategy should focus on CCS.

The roadmap however recommends that industry explore options for targeted support to “legacy” CHAdeMO owners to give them the ability to undertake V2G.

Dive Deeper

Read the full roadmap on ARENA’s dedicated webpage, where you’ll also find the agency’s V2G energy market modelling report.

Want to be ready to capitalise on the benefits of using your car as a home battery? Take a look at our guide on how bidirectional charging works, which vehicles are capable and what else you need.