Completed Clean Energy Engineering

Sciurus

Funder InnovateUK (part of UKRI)
Recipient organisation Ovo Energy LTD
Funding £3.1M
Period Mar 2018 — Mar 2021

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

A fleet of Nissan Leafs will feed power back into the UK grid from residential driveways, using new vehicle-to-grid (V2G) chargers and a balancing platform to ease strain during peak demand. The project tackles a chicken-and-egg problem: V2G technology works in theory, but no one has proven it at scale with real homes, real cars, and a real business model. Without that proof, grid operators cannot rely on it, carmakers hesitate to invest, and consumers see no reason to participate. Sciurus will deploy a large number of residential V2G chargers, test a grid-balancing platform, and measure how EV owners actually respond to the service—including what pricing or incentives make them willing to participate. If successful, the project could turn thousands of parked electric cars into a distributed battery for the national grid. That would reduce the need for dedicated grid-scale storage or fossil-fuel peaker plants, lower electricity costs for participants, and give vehicle manufacturers a clear commercial case for building V2G capability into future models. The consortium aims to build the technology and supply chain in the UK, securing a foothold in a rapidly growing global market for flexible energy services.

View original technical description
The **Sciurus** project will develop and deploy a large number of V2G chargers units with participants who own/lease a Nissan Leaf EV. It will also include the development of a grid balancing platform to provide electrical support to grid operators during peak energy demand times. Furthermore, it will explore and test commercial propositions to identify a viable long-term business model. Finally, consumer behaviour and receptiveness will be measured to provide insights into EV owners' attitudes and their response to V2G products and services. The project seeks to: demonstrate that V2G technology works at a residential level; prove the business case of residential customers participating and benefiting from V2G service provision; and demonstrate the value of V2G to vehicle manufacturers. This project brings together a unique consortium, highly skilled in their respective sectors, to deliver a first-of-a-kind large-scale demo of a truly innovative V2G proposition, with national and global exploitation potential. The partners will develop and build technologies in the UK, establish a UK supply chain and secure the position of the UK in this rapidly growing market. The market for aggregated V2G chargers providing flexibility services is currently immature, but evolution is rapid and demand is strong, a highly competitive market is expected to develop.

View the original record at the funder ↗

Related Research

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Powerloop - Domestic V2G Demonstrator Project

Original classification

Collaborative R&D

Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.