Episode 126 | Blockchain Buildings | SWTCH
I first discussed Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) with Nuvve back in Episode 29. Nuvve has gone on to great success in vehicle fleets. Fleets make this business model simpler because 1) Fleet vehicles typically have more predictable schedules, and 2) The same facility charging the vehicles also pays for the power to the facility.
Toronto-based SWTCH believes it has developed a business model that makes price transparency clearer for passenger/light duty EV owners. Recently, SWTCH announced a pilot to use a blockchain-based ledger system to keep track of power debited and credited from an EV. The blockchain then cashes out on participants’ credit/debit cards.
“It’s not some grandiose transaction system,” says SWTCH CEO Carter Li. “This is more to track what goes on after the charging transaction occurs.”
Rather than a vehicle-2-grid business model, Carter says SWTCH has opted for a vehicle-2-building (V2B) model that is behind the meter. SWTCH manages the relationship with EV owners, not a utility. Load and efficiency are managed within the confines of the building. Ideally, V2B will result in lower, more steady energy demand from the building. EV owners will get paid for using their cars’ batteries to regulate load, drawing power from EVs when a building’s energy demand is particularly high. This can also translate to a scheme where EV owners always “win”—charging when prices are low; discharging when prices are high.
Carter believes this model, while taken on a building-by building level, could be the strategy for widespread grid adoption.
“If you can [make transactions] within your own building, you can dictate the pricing in a more flexible manner,” he says. “That’s what makes this really exciting in how it could scale to a microgrid or transactive energy markets.”
SWTCH hasn’t always specialized in V2B/G. Carter says most buildings benefit from their service exclusively through one-way (“uni-directional”) chargers. This works by limiting or “curtailing” charging when prices are high.
“For a building, you don’t necessarily have to go all-in on V2G. You can start with simple, Level-2 charging stations, and have energy curtailment.”
Combining with V2B, both uni- and bi-directional charging can lead to some interesting options for building owners, like limiting charging when prices are high and calling on EVs to power a building.
“Because of the market complexities of selling energy back to the grid, it’s a bigger hurdle,” says Carter. “But you know you can sell this energy back to the building. This is an easier way to integrate bi-directionality without the market and the local utilities be able to enable that.”
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