It is possible to reduce the costs of owning an electric boat by letting the battery support the electricity grid during the winter. In a report released today, Ferroamp, Varberg Energi and Volvo Penta describe the potential for using V2G technology together with electric boats.
”Many boats are on land during the winter months. By letting the battery moonlight in the electricity grid, you get the benefit of the boat all year round and improve the ownership economy,” says Björn Jernström, founder of Ferroamp.
The technology to discharge vehicle batteries so that they can be used as energy storage in buildings or to support the electricity grid is now available. One area of use is to allow the battery to participate in the market for ancillary services, which requires that you know in advance that the battery will be available when the service is needed. Therefore, boats that are on land all winter become an interesting resource. These can be leisure boats or boats in seasonal commercial traffic. Their batteries can often offer around ten times more capacity than residential batteries, which is also reflected in the size of the financial compensation.
In the project, which was funded by the Västra Götaland Region, two boats with technology from Volvo Penta have been connected to the electricity grid with V2G chargers and inverters from Ferroamp. Varberg Energi has acted as an aggregator and sent signals from the grid about when the battery should be charged or discharged. The results are described in the project report released today.
In order to participate in the ancillary services markets, reaction time is an important factor and something that has been worked on in particular in the project. It is about getting the battery to be able to quickly react to a signal from the electricity grid that there is a need for capacity. The tests have shown good results, and the system also meets the requirements of the fastest ancillary services.
In addition to ancillary services, the batteries, just like home batteries, can also be used to cut power peaks or manage price fluctuations in the electricity market. It is the ability to combine these different functions that provides profitability.
”An aggregator can control the battery so that it is constantly used in a way that creates grid benefits and profitability for the customer. This means better utilisation of the electricity grid and facilitates electrification,” says Mats Balkö, Business Area Manager, Varberg Energi.
The technology used is scalable and not developed exclusively for boats. There is great potential, especially in vehicles that are used commercially and have fixed trips and predetermined times for charging. It can be ferries, taxis, trucks or buses.
“We see this as an opportunity to accelerate a sustainable electrification of society. Vehicle-to-grid technology with smart control can contribute to the stability of the electricity grid and at the same time make electric vehicles more attractive,” says Niklas Lundin, Project Manager, Volvo Penta.
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