Vehicle to grid

SDG&E to work with GM Energy on V2G

SDG&E to work with GM Energy on V2G
(Image by Markus Distelrath from Pixabay)

General Motor’s recent announcement of its new division, GM Energy, which includes bi-directional charging, vehicle-to-home (V2H) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) applications, stationary storage, solar products, software applications, cloud management tools, microgrid solutions, hydrogen fuel cells and more, indicated a full commitment to an electric vehicle future by GM. Utility San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) plans to investigate the feasibility of integrating bidirectional Electric Vehicles (EVs) into the electric grid as a local energy resource in partnership with GM.

GM Energy and SDG&E will examine the hardware, software, processes and construction considerations necessary to accelerate wider adoption of Vehicle-to-Grid Integration (VGI) capabilities, which include:

  • Documenting best practices for Vehicle-to-Home or Building projects so that the benefits may be clearly communicated to customers.
  • Developing systems that help enable utilities and vehicle manufacturers to leverage cloud-based energy management platforms and distributed energy resources, such as EVs, to create a Virtual Power Plant.
  • Exploring the integration of EVs in microgrid environments to increase grid resiliency for communities.

“Vehicle-to-Grid technology can help transform our energy system and provide tangible, positive benefits to our customers in Southern California,” said SDG&E CEO Caroline Winn. “EVs can help us improve community and grid resiliency in the face of climate change as we work with the state and partners to meet our shared climate goals.”

Utility leaders and clean energy developers will discuss how to get ahead on vehicle-to-grid integration at the GridTECH Connect Forum in San Diego, California on Feb. 6, 2023. Register to attend today.

Under the new agreement announced on November 10, GM and SDG&E will study three VGI capabilities: Vehicle-to-Home (V2H), Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G), and a Virtual Power Plant, which can leverage distributed energy resources such as EVs, batteries and chargers to help the grid meet demand.

“Through GM Energy, working with companies like SDG&E will play an important role in accelerating new technology and energy management solutions to market for customers,” said GM Vice President of EV Growth Operations Travis Hester. “As GM continues on its journey towards an all-electric future, expanding the capabilities of EVs represents a significant opportunity to help strengthen grid resiliency and mitigate the impact of disruptions.”

SDG&E and GM are signatories to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) memorandum of understanding (MOU). The agreement brings together resources from DOE National Labs, state and local governments, utilities and private entities to study the potential of bidirectional charging to increase energy security, community resilience, and economic growth while supporting the nation’s electric system.

“Bidirectional charging holds tremendous potential for increasing the country’s energy security and grid reliability in addition to supporting economic opportunities for communities throughout the nation,” said U.S. Department of Energy Office of Technology Transitions Commercialization Executive Rima Oueid. “We are excited to see yet another V2X initiative undertaken by our MOU partners to accelerate adoption of this innovative technology.”

SDG&E is the host utility for DISTRIBUTECH 2023 and CEO Caroline Winn will give a keynote address to kick off the event. Learn more about the educational sessions at DTECH here and register to attend.