The advanced technology "Vehicle-to-grid" (V2G) charging stations made by Enel and already protagonists in other European countries are also arriving in Italy: a latest generation system that will be decisive not only for the total electrification of mobility, but also for make electric cars an integral part of the electrical system. In fact, through the V2G columns, electric vehicles can not only recharge but also re-enter the energy accumulated in their batteries to serve the network, domestic users and also other motorists. An advantage that would also be economic, as is already the case in homes equipped with panels and accumulation systems, through which citizens can "sell" excess energy to the grid and obtain an advantage on their bills. Tomorrow, Friday, Enel X will announce the first trial of the new advanced services in Italy.
The leader of this revolution is Holland, one of the first countries to embrace 100% decarbonisation by 2030, and above all Amsterdam, thanks to the plan of the green mayor Femke Halsema, the city's first female mayor since last July. To achieve the goal of a total diesel and petrol ban by 2030, the approach will be gradual: the stop will start in 2020 for diesel vehicles over the age of 15 and will then gradually be extended to all the others, while from 2022 it will be the turn of public and private buses.
This means that the Dutch capital will need at least 16 V2G electric charging points by 2025 to enable the ecological transition. Currently there are already around 3.000 out of a total of 40.000 charging stations (including non-V2G ones) across the country, which make theThe Netherlands is the European leader in the density of car charging points: one for each square km. As mentioned, Enel has already been present for two years, with 10 V2G columns for an installed power of 100 kW, and has already closed projects in the UK, Denmark and Germany in the past.
In Italy however, the infrastructures for the mobility revolution are still behind. TO Milano area B came into force last February, with the aim of closing the whole area within the external ring road to diesel vehicles by October 2030, while the mayor of Roma Virginia Raggi has announced that from 2024 the center of the capital will be off-limits for all diesel vehicles. But there is still no acceleration in the electric sector, so much so that according to Acea data, our country is bringing up the rear with just 3.824 columns (each of which with two accesses), i.e. 13 every 1.000 square km, an area not much smaller than that of the entire metropolitan city of Naples. Enel, which is installing 150 a week, alone expects to reach 7.000 (therefore 14.000 points) in 2020.
The experimentation of the “Vehicle-to-grid” in Italy, i.e. the possibility of a "bidirectional" exchange of energy between the car battery and the electricity grid, which will allow owners of electric vehicles that use V2G to be remunerated, is starting only now and is presented in Milan by Enel X in partnership with Nissan. The Italian experimentation, although late compared to other countries, presents, according to what the company anticipates, an absolute novelty in the European context since, compared to the previous will test a wide range of services ancillaries that guarantee the security of the system and in particular the optimization of the energy flows of both domestic and business users.
During the Milanese event, experiments will be carried out with a Nissan LEAF connected to Enel X's V2G charging infrastructure and a panel that will show in real time how the connection generates a bidirectional flow of energy, with particular attention to that released by the vehicle which contributes to the energy efficiency of domestic users (use of household appliances, solar panels…). The technology is ready, but as often happens in Italy, the legislation to enable it is still lacking. However, the Ministry of Development, just in recent days has launched a first draft of the decree which is now being examined by experts and the car industry but which could become concrete in a reasonable time. And thus allow thecars to run on the net and cut costs in half.
