Powering EVs With Solar and Wind: Volue Introduces the Spark Partner Ecosystem

The electrification of transport is one of the big challenges of the green transition. The more electricity we need, the more we have to produce. There’s a lot of talk about EV charging destroying the grid and many have expressed concern that the grid will collapse.

At Volue, we believe that we can help grid operators see EV charging as an important part of the solution. We have the knowledge and tools to predict where the grid has a risk of bottlenecks and, at the same time, show EVs where and when they can help.

To achieve this, we are creating a market opportunity for smart charging service providers to earn money from EV flexibility at the neighbourhood level.

And to get there, we are building a partner ecosystem of smart charging service providers and EV manufacturers. If you are interested to join Volue’s Spark journey, get in touch.

From smart charging to grid-aware charging

Traditionally, grid companies have been able to provide electricity when it’s needed thanks to “smart storage” such as hydropower dams. With their ability to store a lot of energy, hydropower dams make power production flexible.

We know this because, for 50 years, Volue has been optimising power production using hydropower’s “smart storage”.

But new renewable energy is less flexible – you can produce energy only when the wind is blowing or the sun is shining, and there's no easy way to store it.

We need to change the mindset from having production aligned with demand to having demand aligned with when production is available. We need to align the charging of electric vehicles with when it’s windy or sunny.

This is what smart charging is about. Charging electric vehicles with wind and solar energy will accelerate the energy transition and this is what we all want.

But when all EVs start acting smart, this can overload the local grid and in some parts of the neighbourhood energy system, this will create problems.

Grid operators shouldn’t have to restrict or penalise everyone to avoid overloading the grid at the neighbourhood level. All they need is the insight into where and when a problem might occur. At the moment, they don’t even know whether the risk of overloading is high or low.

This is why we believe in connecting EV charging more tightly to the grid. Instead of smart charging, we want to see grid-aware charging.

And this is where smart charging service providers come in. They have the insight. What is lacking is a collaboration between the demand side and the grid operators.

We see that there is a need for a trustworthy matchmaker.

Volue introduces the Spark partner ecosystem

We want to help power grid companies cooperate with these new, diverse players but Volue can’t do this alone.

Today, we introduce the Spark partner ecosystem. We would like to hear from smart charging service providers who believe in creating smart neighbourhoods.

For years, smart charging service providers and EV manufacturers have built smartness into their software and hardware. They don’t want to be a problem for the grid. On the contrary, they want to be seen as an opportunity.

And of course, they want to get paid for the smartness and the service they provide.

We can make this happen by creating a market opportunity to earn money from EV flexibility at the neighbourhood level. We forecast the risk for problems in the grid and provide flexibility to reduce the bottlenecks.

We have the knowledge and tools to be this trustworthy matchmaker.