NRG Energy Electric Vehicle Project Provides Frequency Regulation to PJM

The University of Delaware and NRG Energy announced a milestone for their eV2g project: becoming an official resource of PJM Interconnection and proving for the first time that electric vehicle-to-grid technology can sell electricity from electric vehicles (EVs) to the power grid.

The University and NRG began work in September 2011 to move from research results to prepare to commercialize the technology, which provides a two-way interface between EVs and the power grid that enables vehicle owners to sell electricity back to the grid while they are charging their EVs.

On Feb. 27, the project took a notable step forward when it became an official participant in PJM's frequency regulation market. Since then, the project has been selling power services from a fleet of EVs to PJM.

The technology is expected to initially help managers of commercial EV fleets by providing revenue while the vehicles are parked, with individual EV owners to eventually follow. The system is currently in development with restricted test fleets and is not now a commercial offering, NRG said.