E-Mobility: This is how sector coupling for the future looks in practice today

Well-known industry players, particularly EWS Schönau, SAP, and Nextmove, are cooperating in an innovative BMWK-funded project in the field of electric mobility. In the Trade-EVs II project (Trade of Renewable, Aggregated and Distributed Energy by Electric Vehicles), use cases for controlled charging of electric vehicle fleets are being developed, which will be examined through simulation and subsequently implemented during the project.

ane.energy was commissioned to take over partial tasks related to marketing during project implementation. Together with green electricity provider EWS Schönau, we are providing our virtual power plant, automated market access to the power exchange, and the expertise of our power traders. The work is technically supported by the Research Center for Energy Economics (FfE) in Munich.

The motivation is explained on the project page: The transport sector is responsible for approximately 19% of greenhouse gas emissions in Germany, making it one of the major contributors to human-made climate change. The German government aims to counter this with the highest possible number of EVs. Incentives are being created through subsidies for vehicles and charging infrastructure. Technical progress in battery and charging technology also favors this development. Despite the incentives and lower operating and maintenance costs, consumers are often deterred by the higher acquisition costs of an electric vehicle. Controlled charging offers a promising opportunity to further reduce the operating costs of electric vehicles. In addition to price-optimized charging, grid-supporting charging strategies are also possible. 1

"With this project, we are connecting the electricity market with the transport sector and generating necessary flexibility to relieve the electricity system," summarizes Dr. Cord Kaldemeyer from ane.energy. Various types of fleets are being examined (company fleet, rental fleet, company car fleet). The vehicles are sub-aggregated via fleet control centers and connected to ane.energy's virtual power plant. The virtual power plant simulates trading the energy needed for charging the vehicles on the short-term markets (Day Ahead & Intraday) and distributes it to the vehicles through the fleet control centers.

The project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) under grant number 01MV20006E.