Skip to main content

UK research team aims to develop smart electric vehicle car park

Cenex, the UK’s first Centre of Excellence for low carbon and fuel cell technologies, is to be part of the team carrying out a project to establish the feasibility of turning a Solihull car park into a MW-scale battery to provide power on demand to the electricity grid. Part funded by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, the 12-month Net-Form project seeks to develop a secure, dynamic data management platform that collects, aggregates and optimises energy collected by large populations of grid-connected
March 3, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Cenex, the UK’s first Centre of Excellence for low carbon and fuel cell technologies, is to be part of the team carrying out a project to establish the feasibility of turning a Solihull car park into a MW-scale battery to provide power on demand to the electricity grid. Part funded by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, the 12-month Net-Form project seeks to develop a secure, dynamic data management platform that collects, aggregates and optimises energy collected by large populations of grid-connected electric vehicle batteries at a single location.
 
Working in partnership with Encraft, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, Costain, Aston University and Western Power Distribution, Cenex will offer guidance on vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology and work with EV owners. The Net-Form project will evaluate the opportunity to provide a managed charging service and income to EV owners, who could provide access to their vehicles via a secure mobile application.
 
The sixth V2G project Cenex is contributing to, Net-Form is unique in that it integrates and analyses diverse sets of data and time-sensitive information to optimise the energy system in a non-invasive way. Cenex hopes this feasibility study will shed new light on how EV owners can be expected to interact with the grid, and shape what V2G infrastructure looks like in UK cities and towns.

Related Content

  • November 6, 2019
    Gnewt to trial V2G tech to power EV fleet
    A London-based parcel delivery service is to trial Vehicle to Grid (V2G) technology to help power 70 electric vehicles (EVs). Gnewt by Menzies Distribution intends to use V2G to explore the ability of EVs releasing energy back to the grid when not in use. The trial is part of a Cisco-led project called E-Flex which aims to demonstrate how V2G can help reduce the demand EVs put on energy networks. Gnewt’s founder Sam Clarke says: “Through E-Flex, we’re able to sustainably carry on with our day-to-day op
  • August 4, 2017
    Cenex announces trial of natural gas-fuelled lorries
    Centre of Excellence for low carbon technologies, Cenex, has announced its involvement in the UK’s trial of biomethane-fuelled lorries. Led by Air Liquide and funded in part by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles in partnership with Innovate UK via the recently launched Low Emission Freight and Logistics Project, the Dedicated to Gas trial will see large fleet operators including Kuehne + Nagel, Wincanton, ASDA, Brit European, Howard Tenens and Great Bear trial the effectiveness of 81 dedicated gas-powe
  • November 14, 2022
    New guide to EV Charging & Infrastructure
    ITS International's sister website is launching to cover the growing business of EV infrastructure
  • January 23, 2020
    Timing is everything for EV charging
    Electric vehicles are often promoted as a more sustainable alternative to diesel and petrol cars - but their arrival raises concerns about the strain which charging will put on the grid.