The NSW Battery PRDS Incentive is Now Available
The NSW Battery PRDS Incentive is Now Available
Posted 3 Jul
With more people buying electric vehicles and chargers for their homes, the industry continues to boom in popularity along with newly developed technologies. Not only are EV manufacturers developing their own electric vehicle chargers, but some are taking it a step further and are developing their own bidirectional chargers, to prepare for what we believe, is the next step in our energy’s future.
Our Articles Surrounding V2G & Bidirectional Charging in Australia:
Bidirectional charging is simply where the electric vehicle can not only charge, but also discharge with two way charging.
This feature is very useful in situations where EVs can be used as temporary battery storage to keep the lights on in a
blackout etc.
We made an article explaining V2G, V2H, and V2L if you want to learn
more.
Available Bidirectional Chargers in Australia
Available Bidirectional capable electric vehicles in Australia
Along with new electric vehicles being released left, right, and centre, new EV chargers are being released from a range of manufacturers. However, we’re starting to see some big EV players make their own chargers, but not just any boring charger, chargers with futuristic two way charging technology.
Large EV manufacturers like GM and Ford are having a go at making their own 1st party chargers like the GM Energy Powershift Charger, and Ford Charge Station Pro which are both listed on their U.S. websites.
Well-known solar companies in the industry like Enphase and SolarEdge are also getting in on the action with the recent announcements of their own chargers that support bidirectional charging. These bidirectional chargers are set to be released in the latter half of 2024 into 2025 with no information on where they’ll be released.
The SolarEdge charger is designed to use direct solar energy, with a simple DC to DC voltage conversion, it would eliminate the need for any AC to DC conversions. According to their press release, this charger will be able to fast charge up to 24kW using not just grid energy, but also pulling energy from solar and your battery all at the same time to provide the full 24kW.
In contrast, the Enphase charger will be AC-coupled similar to more traditional chargers, but no charging specifications have been released yet. We expect more information to come out as we approach 2025.
It is unclear if the SolarEdge and Enphase bidirectional chargers will be available in Australia.
Currently, Wallbox is the only company that offers an official bidirectional charger in Australia; the Wallbox Quasar and Quasar 2. However, whilst these exist, it is rumoured (unconfirmed) that they have stopped production of these expensive chargers and have planned to switch to the more common CCS standard when it supports bidirectional flow.
As of June 20th, ARENA (Australian Renewable Energy Agency) has announced funding for Amber to trial electric vehicle smart charging and facilitating vehicle-to-grid (V2G) solutions for homes. This trial will initiate mid-2025 and will last 3-years.
Phase 1 includes the testing of API solutions and smart charging hardware, and Phase 2 involving bidirectional charging hardware testing, all to optimise integration of BEVs into the grid network.
Amber’s Vehicle-to-grid testing over ACT, NSW, QLD, SA, and VIC will demonstrate how price incentives and charging automation will ensure cost-effective results for electric vehicle owners. It will also allow for better understanding of consumer requirements, higher levels of renewable energy usage with load shifting automation and provide better insight to help form Australian V2G policies.
There is no set time on when bidirectional charging will be available in Australia. If you don’t want to wait, we recommend installing a traditional charger like the Zappi for the meantime, but if you can wait, we believe that 2025 could be the year we start to see dramatic changes in the industry.
With the planned changes to the CCS standard, high-investment in bidirectional charging by corporations, it is highly likely that next year could be a breakthrough in this area or at least a big step towards it.
Unfortunately, there are no single reasons on why bidirectional charging has not been officially released yet in Australia.
However, we can try and narrow it down to a few reasons:
CHAdeMO vs. CCS: Current Vehicle-to-grid systems are the CHAdeMO standard, with the
Wallbox Quasar series and Nissan Leaf both being CHAdeMO. Currently, there are no current V2G standards on the CCS standard (which is much
more common here in Australia), however declares a plan to add grid functionality to the standard for full vehicle-to-grid features by
2025.
This new standard will make grid integration compulsory for electric vehicle and charger manufacturers, DNSP’s and regulators.
Low Demand: Bidirectional demand may not be high enough to incentivise all electric vehicle and charger manufacturers to switch to bidirectional yet.
With the electric vehicle market still taking off, additional technology in EVs such as bidirectional charging, aren't at the forefront of customer minds... yet.
Testing & Standards: Lastly, which is the most possible in Australia, is that we are still in testing mode. The NSW Gov, manufacturers, and service providers are still conducting tests to ensure the technology is as refined as possible to integrate with the grid, and is completely safe to use.
Premature electric vehicle technology: Right now, the only electric vehicles that support bidirectional charging are; Mitsubishi Outlander EV, Nissan Leaf, Nissan Lead e+, Cupra Born, and the Volkswagen ID.3, ID.4, and ID.5 which is coming out sometime soon.
Char-IN, a collaborator of the CCS standard development, has said that bidirectional charging is the next step in charging technology:
‘As a next step grid-serving charging should be made bidirectional: This means that EVs can also use a small amount of the energy stored in their batteries - with a correspondingly high proportion of renewable electricity - to stabilize the grid at peak, thus contributing to its stability and reliability and avoiding the operation of CO2-emitting peak load power plants.
The Combined Charging System (CCS) offers the appropriate global standardized charging technology for both
AC and DC.’
‘V2G will be realized in a future-proof way with the ISO standard 15118-20 and the Combined Charging System, or CCS for short.’
The ISO standard 15118-20 standard includes:
Some believe that a network of electric vehicle storage will disincentivise the adoption of solar power and home batteries, but we don’t believe will have a negative impact.
As the price of solar continues to fall, it only makes more sense to install it on your roof whether you have a giant battery or not.
Yes, you could get away with using cheap energy at night to charge your EV, but as Australia continues to strive for NetZero, it only
makes sense that each house be its own Virtual Power Plant (VPP), producing
and storing its own energy.
Fixed battery storage solutions play their own part in being a dedicated backup for those willing to make the investment. Whilst using your dedicated home battery, you use your car battery less which increases the vehicle's lifespan, and take advantage of solar throughout the day when you go to work.
Electric Vehicles with bidirectional charging will play a crucial role in the uptake of renewable energy. Not only does it compliment home VPPs and provide a reliable backup of energy, but it helps stabilise the grid, balancing grid demand and supply by means of peak-to-alley arbitrage.
Even though there is and will continue to be a strong market for home batteries, EV batteries are much larger than current residential batteries which allows for greater capacity and benefits.
South Australia’s new distributor, SAPowerNetworks, allow for a network connection of vehicle-to-grid chargers in SA, which is a huge step forward for Australia. The NSW governments’ website says:
‘There is currently very limited availability in Australia of Vehicle to Grid (V2G) capable vehicles and charging systems. The vast majority of EVs available in the NSW market today use a CCS2 (Combined Charging System, Combo 2) charging plug. Global standards are still under development to enable bidirectional charging for EVs using this plug. There is some concern that national inverter standards do not currently clearly allow for V2G charger connections to the electricity network.’
‘Has the Government considered following South Australia’s recent move to approve network connection of bidirectional electric vehicle charging? If not, why not?’
‘The NSW Government does not prohibit or prevent the approval of network connections for bidirectional EV chargers. This is for the consideration of NSW's Distributed Network Service Providers.’
With the growing number of electric vehicles on our roads, there will be greater demand to charge them. In addition to the already rapidly growing renewable energy industry, not only will vehicle-to-grid lower bills by being able to absorb solar energy, but it also benefits the greater network by contributing to grid stability.
Grid demand is occasionally unstable, but with the adoption of battery storage and V2G, it helps balance demand with supply.
Even though bidirectional charging hasn’t been released and is only still in its development stage, Vehicle-to-grid is already turning heads throughout Australia and across the world, with its strong potential to change the way we consume, distribute, and produce energy.
We’re excited to see the results of current and future testing, as well as the continual innovative products that EV giants are cooking up – what a time to be alive.
Who are we?
We’re a solar, battery, EV charger, and electrical installer in the Newcastle, Maitland, and Hunter regions, empowering communities with quality renewable and electrical solutions.
We install renewable energy storage systems for both commercial and residential applications and have been doing so for over 20 years’.
The journey of bidirectional charging in Australia has hit a milestone with the recent approval of the new standard for vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging for 2025.
Amber & ARENA have started trials for Vehicle-to-grid technology in NSW, Australia to help develop standards and framework in V2G and Bidirectional charging.
Though bidirectional charging isn't available, vehicle-to-grid is already turning heads in Australia with its potential to change energy consumption and distribution.
Leave a Comment
Re. quote from NSW gov. website:
"There is some concern that national inverter standards do not currently clearly allow for V2G charger connections to the electricity network."
Note that for DC connected bi-directional chargers connecting to the back end of a Hybrid Solar inverter, this is irrelevant, since the inverter itself is the only thing that is grid connected, and it already embodies all the grid connection requirements. All the NSW goverment needs to do in this case, is get out of the way.