Electric vehicles’ potential to provide flexibility services

Abstract: The automotive industry is undergoing an unprecedented transformation, and all actors along the value chain are affected. A company in the midst of this is Axess Logistics, which offers car logistics solutions to general agents and dealers in the Scandinavian market. In times of change, new business opportunities arise, which Axess Logistics wants to identify. An evident trend is the electrification of the vehicle fleet, where the share of electric vehicles among new registered cars is increasing every year, and the growth is forecasted to continue. When an electric vehicle is parked, its battery can be viewed as an unused resource – particularly since it could contribute to mitigating some of the problems that exist in the electrical grid. Via vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, the stored energy in the car battery can be fed back into the electrical grid when needed and, hence, constitute a flexibility resource. In the future electricity systems with more intermittent energy sources and increased electricity demand, flexibility resources are regarded as one of the solutions to problems such as power shortage. Today, flexibility is traded in two different markets, namely, Svenska kraftnät’s ancillary services market and local flexibility markets. This study investigates whether Axess Logistics is able to participate in the flexibility markets with the cars they have in storage with respect to the requirements of the markets. Furthermore, external factors that affect Axess Logistics’ potential are mapped. Based on the study’s data collection, barriers to the implementation of the provision of flexibility services at the company’s Malmö facility are identified. The conclusion is that the cars at Axess Logistics can be used as flexibility resources in flexibility markets. However, there are barriers – e.g. low knowledge of V2G and uncertainties regarding battery health – that need to be overcome before a successful implementation can take place.