Distributed Energy Resources, GHG Emissions, Industrial  -  November 10, 2022

GM, SDG&E Partner to Explore Vehicle-to-Grid Tech

General Motors (GM) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) announced an agreement to investigate the feasibility of integrating EVs into the electric grid as a local energy resource. 

Following GM’s announcement of its newest business unit, GM Energy, the study 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. A Virtual Power Plant is a collection of energy resources that can be interconnected and operated together via cloud-based software.
• Exploring the integration of EVs in microgrid environments to increase grid resiliency for communities. A microgrid is a smaller power grid that uses technology like energy storage or EV batteries to provide power to specific communities or facilities in the event of an outage.

“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 in a statement. “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.”

Under the new agreement, 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.

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