New market opportunity for smart charging service providers

The electrification of transport is one of the biggest challenges of the green transition. The need for electric power is rapidly growing and so is production. But the more electric vehicles (EVs) enter the picture, the bigger the strain on the local grid will become. In short, EVs are creating challenges for the grid.

We believe that we can help grid operators recognise EVs as part of the solution. We have the knowledge and tools to predict where and when the local grid faces the risk of bottlenecks and offer resources, such as EV flexibility, to help the grid solve the issue before it occurs.

Creating smart neighbourhoods

Today, smart charging means charging when the power price is low, without regard to the local situation.

In short, central market mechanisms don't necessarily solve local problems. They might, in fact, make them worse.

We believe local problems are best solved locally. We work with energy retailers, smart home providers, charging point operators, EV manufacturers, battery operators, local grid operators and other relevant partners to close the gaps in the neighbourhood energy system.

Local grid operators are offered available flexibility, to manage their risk while utilising the existing capacity. The contributor of energy resources will, in turn, be compensated for offering the flexibility.

This is creating smart neighbourhoods.

Millions of small-scale energy assets

By 2030, there will be 200 million small-scale energy assets in Europe. This includes rooftop solar, small wind and hydro, biomass and geothermal power, as well as storage such as electric vehicles and residential water heaters.

This is a conscious transition with broad political backing. There is no turning back.

These distributed energy resources can facilitate a more intelligent use of the power grid, but we need more intelligent energy systems to handle this complexity.

The alternative is massive investment in infrastructure to handle the increasing complexity.

Based on decades of experience supplying power generation planning and optimisation software to leading European power utilities, Volue is taking a leadership position in this market.

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