File No.

CEA-GO-12-22/1/2023-GM Division

ELECTRIC
VEHICLES
UTILIZATION
FOR
VEHICLE-TO-
GRID (V2G)
SERVICES
 File No.CEA-GO-12-22/1/2023-GM Division

Executive Summary

MoP vide O.M. dated 28.03.2023 (Annexure I) requested CEA to frame guidelines for reverse
charging of grid from batteries of electric vehicles (EVs). Accordingly, a committee was
constituted under the Chairmanship of Member (GO&D), CEA vide letter dated 11.04.2023
(Annexure II). The committee in its 1st meeting held on 10.05.2023 (MOM attached at Annexure
III) requested to analyze various aspects of reverse charging from EVs and present it to the
committee. Accordingly, a meeting of the sub-committee was held on 17.07.2023 (MOM
attached at Annexure IV) with participants from IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Roorkee, BSES
Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL), EVSE and EVs OEMs to prepare this report on EVs utilization
for vehicle-to-grid (V2G) services.

This report provides a brief overview of the services that EVs can provide to the power system
through smart charging, key challenges, and important factors to enable deployment,
implementation requirements and way forward for the smooth integration of EVs in the grid. This
report looks into bidirectional V2G technologies and on their role in integrating higher renewable
energy, while providing services to the grid. Therefore, the major thrust of this report will be on
planning and operation of the distribution grid with integration of EV charging infrastructure i.e.
smart charging; grid support services from electric vehicles to facilitate large-scale renewable
energy integration; technologies and standards for EV charging infrastructure’s integration with
distribution grid; policies and regulations for EV charging infrastructure and integration with
distribution grid; identifying the key challenges and recommendations for efficient, effective and
sustainable integration of EV charging infrastructure in India.

The cost reductions in renewable power generation make electricity an attractive low-cost fuel for
the transport sector. A significant scaling up in electric vehicle (EV) deployment represents an
opportunity for the power sector as well. Since, cars including EVs, typically spend about 80-
90% of their lifetime parked. These idle periods, combined with battery storage capacity, could
make EVs an attractive flexibility solution for the power system. Therefore, EV fleets can create
vast electricity storage capacity. They can act as flexible loads and as decentralized storage
resources, capable of providing additional flexibility to support power system operations.

The continued development of EV charging infrastructure and its integration will depend on the
policy and regulatory framework, which must also consider the repercussions of the added EV
load in the network, such as increased peak demand and congestion in the distribution grid etc.
Network congestion, over voltage & under voltage issues, requirement of reactive power
compensation, increase in peak load, phase imbalance issues are just a few of the many different
challenges that may be witnessed by distribution utilities with high EV loads. Further, installation
of the high-power chargers may warrant upgradation of the distribution infrastructure.

In this respect, implementation of smart charging is a key enabler to ensure EV uptake is not
constrained by network. Smart charging would enable the distribution utility to control the EV
load, thereby helping them shift the charging load to off-peak periods, which could help in
deferring grid upgradation requirements. Also, with smart charging, EVs could adapt their
charging patterns to flatten peak demand, fill load valleys and support real-time balancing of the
grid by adjusting their charging levels. Along with leveling of the load, smart charging would
help in increasing the utilization of renewable energy for EV charging.

In such scenario, key factors like standardization, interoperability, bidirectional charging system,
synergies between mobility and the grid, robust bidirectional communication system, customer

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incentives, tariff design, optimizing of grid infrastructure requirements, integrated planning of

power and transport sector, enable revenue stacking for EVs in different markets, addressing
issues of battery degradation, EV load management, strategies pertaining to battery swapping, use
of second life batteries, advance metering infrastructure, optimally locating the charging station
from both a mobility and a power system perspective etc. may play a major role in the utilization
of EVs for V2G services.

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1. Introduction

MoP vide O.M. dated 20.03.2023 requested CEA to frame guidelines for reverse charging of grid
from batteries of electric vehicles (EVs). Accordingly, a committee was constituted under the
Chairmanship of Member (GO&D), CEA vide letter dated 11.04.2023. The committee in its 1 st
meeting held on 10.05.2023 requested to analyze various aspects of reverse charging from EVs
and present it to the committee. Accordingly, a meeting of the sub-committee was held on
17.07.2023 with participants from IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Roorkee, BSES Rajdhani Power
Limited (BRPL), EVSE and EVs OEMs to deliberate on the issue of utilization of EVs for
vehicle-to-grid (V2G) services.

The cost reductions in renewable power generation make electricity an attractive low-cost fuel for
the transport sector. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has predicted that the demand for
EVs charging in India to be around 83 TWh till 2030. Further, to align with our national goal of
reaching net zero emission by 2070, a significant scaling up in EV deployment also represents an
opportunity for the power system, with the potential to provide much needed flexibility in a
system with a high share of renewables. EV fleets can create vast electricity storage capacity.
They can act as flexible loads and as decentralized storage resources, capable of providing
additional flexibility to support power system operations. EVs represent a paradigm shift for both
the transport and power sectors, with the potential to aid the decarbornization of both sectors by
coupling them. To accomplish true decarbornization of transport via electrification, the electricity
used to charge the EV battery packs should be produced from renewable sources.

The smart charging means adapting the charging cycle of EVs to both the conditions of the power
system and the needs of vehicle users. With smart charging, there is certain level of control over
the charging process, wherein EVs could adapt their charging patterns to flatten peak demand, fill
load valleys and support real-time balancing of the grid by adjusting their charging/ discharging
levels. This approach would reduce the need for investment in flexible, carbon-intensive, fossil
fuel power plants to balance renewables. Further, the smart charging minimizes the load impact
from electric vehicles and unlocks the flexibility to use more solar and wind power.

The smart charging, therefore, is a way of optimizing the charging process according to
distribution grid constraints, utilization of distributed renewable energy sources and customers
preferences. This would reduce reverse power flows and transformer overloading, enhancing the
capability of grid. It also helps to mitigate voltage fluctuations in the grids having high
penetration of variable renewable energy (VRE) sources. The simplest form of incentive could be
– time-of-use pricing – which could encourage the EV owners to defer their charging from peak
to off-peak periods. Further, the advanced smart charging approaches, such as direct control
mechanisms may be necessary as a long-term solution at higher EV penetration levels and for
delivery of close-to-real-time balancing and ancillary services.

The main form of smart charging include bidirectional vehicle-to-grid (V2G). V2G for electric
vehicles holds the key to unleash synergies between clean transport and low-carbon economy.
Batteries in cars, in fact, could be instrumental to integrate high shares of renewables into the
grid. Optimally, EVs powered by renewables can spawn widespread benefits for the grid without
adversely impacting the transport functionality.

2. V2G System and Infrastructure

 System Architecture

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The system architecture associated with V2G can be classified into centralized and
decentralized architectures. In a centralized architecture, the aggregator is the primary
component for handling all the charging and discharging processes of the EVs. In
addition, the aggregator can also perform optimization for smart charging of the EVs
hence, it may have access to the system data whenever necessary. These features serve to
organize the distribution system, increase the system capacity, and provide ancillary
services. However, this also means that the system has a huge quantum of data to process
and optimize, such as the preferred level of battery state of charge (SOC) level, available
battery size, charging/ discharging time, and many more to arrive at the most optimum
solution. The frequency control needs to be closely monitored with the centralized control
architecture, when different vehicles are at different states of charge coupled with the
uncertainty of availability of EVs at the charging stations.

On the other hand, in the local/decentralized control architecture, the local systems, such
as office, factory, and apartment, etc. autonomously pursue their own way to optimize the
charging cost and other parameters associated with V2G. The local systems are equipped
with a server that has real-time communication with the EVs that belong to the local
systems (such as employees, residents, etc.). However, this would tilt the scale in favor of
probabilistic individual-made decisions. This unpredictability factor can also snowball
into increasing or decreasing the electricity cost (in case of variable tariff) when a large
fleet of individual vehicles chooses to vary their charging rate. This problem is expected
to be less of a concern if the sample space of vehicles participating in the
decentralized/local control architecture is high enough.

Control Type Advantages Disadvantages

Centralized control  Larger scale, number of EV,  Extensive and expensive
and coverage central control system, as
 Various possible ancillary well as the backup and
services storage sources
 Possible different connections  Complex and expensive
to transmission, distribution, communication
and RE architecture and
 Smart manipulation of network infrastructure
capacity  Big data to process
 Possible real-time  Demand for higher
implementation connection security (risk
 Flexible and wider for privacy defilements)
geographical accessibility  Possible full control of EV
 Possible wider and larger-scale (the anxiety of the user that
electricity market and higher EV charging process can
possible revenue be interrupted at any time)
Decentralized control  Smaller and simple  Limited types of ancillary
communication infrastructure services, electricity
 Higher control flexibility/ market, and connections
autonomy (charging control in  Smaller revenue due to
the hand of the local system, limited services

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resulting in faster and  Accurate forecast and

convenient service) prediction of the user
 High data security as the data behavior of users are
are stored locally necessary
 Higher consumer trust and  Possibility for concurrent
acceptance (especially during reactions
initial adoption)
 Scalable and adaptable to EVs
fleet
 Better fault tolerance

 Charging System

V2G involves two main types of charging systems: AC and DC charging systems. While
the AC charger charges the battery via the on-board charger of the vehicle, the DC charger
directly charges the battery of EV using an AC-DC converter on the charger side. An AC/
DC converter (or charger) is therefore always necessary. This converter can be located in
the charging point (“off-board charger”) or in the vehicle (“on-board charger”). The
choice between off-board or on-board charger is a trade-off between the cost of the
charging station (on-board is cheaper) and the vehicle (off-board chargers reduce the
weight and cost for the converter in the vehicle). As availability of AC supply is
prevalent, more locations are available for on-board EV charging.

The technical specifications for electric vehicle chargers vary across Level 1, Level 2, and
Level 3 charging stations across different countries. Table below showcases the mapping
of different charger specification in India:
S. Charging Voltage Power Type of Type of compatible charger
No. Station (V) (kW) Vehicle
1 Level 1 (AC) 240 <=3.5 4w, 3w, 2w Type 1, Bharat AC-001
2 Level 1 (DC) >=48 <=15 4w, 3w, 2w Bharat DC-001
3 Level 2 (AC) 380-400 <=22 4w, 3w, 2w Type 1, Type 2, GB/T, Bharat
AC-001
4 Level 3 (AC) 200-1000 22 to 4.3 4w Type 2
5 Level 3 (DC) 200-1000 Up to 400 4w Type 2, CHAdeMO, CCS1,CCS2

For the AC charging stations, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has
characterized the charging stations into two standard levels: Level 1 and Level 2. A Level
1 electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) usually used in a residential charger utilizes
the commonly available 240 V AC power from the grid in the current range of 12–16 A.
Usually, a Level 1 charger requires about 11–20 h to completely charge an EV with a 16
kWh battery. On the other hand, a Level 2 EVSE, which is primarily used in commercial
spaces, such as malls and offices, uses three-phase 440 V AC power off the grid to power
up to an electric current of 32 A and would require 3–8 h to fully charge an EV with a 16
kWh battery.

The DC charging stations (also known as Level 3 fast-charging stations) take AC power
from the grid and through a power converter supply high-voltage DC power and a current

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of up to 400 A to charge the battery directly. This type of equipment circumvents the need
for an on-board charger (OBC). As high voltage power is directly used to charge the
vehicle, the time needed to charge is much lower (less than 30 min) to completely charge
an EV with a 16 kWh battery.

The fast and ultra-fast charging may be a priority for the mobility sector. However, slow
charging is better suited for smart charging than are fast and ultra-fast charging.
Furthermore, fast and ultra-fast charging may increase the peak demand on the local grids
when number of EVs are simultaneously in the charging state. Options, such as battery
swapping, charging stations with buffer storage, and night EV fleet charging might
become relevant in combination with fast and ultra-fast charging.

The main charging locations are at home, work and semi-public or public places. Most of
the time, AC charging is implemented. At home, low power is usually sufficient (e.g., 3.7
kW on a 230 V circuit). The DC high-power charging is often deployed along highways,
but some cities are also deploying it for street charging. For a 200 kWh battery, a charging
power of 600 kW would be needed if the driver wanted to charge that quickly. With
today’s battery chemistry, a battery can charge at 3C (i.e., 20 minutes is needed to charge
the battery from 0% to 100% if the same power level was kept). A 3C rate means that the
discharge current will discharge the entire battery in 20 minutes. The C-rate is a measure
of the rate at which a battery is discharged relative to its maximum capacity.

Therefore, the regulation in some countries/ regions encourages the inclusion of energy
storage and local renewable energy (mainly solar PV) for fast-charging sites to reduce the
costs and the need for capacity upgrades (e.g., through power purchase agreements for
renewable energy for charging providers in some US states). However, the additional high
capital costs of storage can limit the effectiveness of this technique to mitigate demand
charges.

Few countries and cities including India have also mandated that a certain percentage of
new or retrofitted parking spaces be “EV ready” through requirements in building codes.
With zoning regulations, the cities can influence where and how many EV charging
stations can be installed in each area. This is a key lever that can influence the availability
of charging infrastructure in the future when the lack of multi-level dwelling and
workplace charging could become a significant barrier to adoption and could restrict
electrification of transport. Such measures have been already implemented in some
regions of the US. For example, the California Green Building Standards Code of 2015
requires 6% of all parking spaces in commercial buildings to include infrastructure for
EVs and has since been extended further. In Los Angeles, 240 V outlet and circuit
capacity for Level 2 chargers is mandatory for every new building. Atlanta’s new
ordinance requires 20% of charging spots in commercial buildings to be EV ready as well
as electrical infrastructures in new residential buildings to support EVs. Ontario, Canada
requires 20% of parking in all new non-residential buildings to have full circuit capacity
to support EV charging. The charging use case along with its impact and possible V2G
opportunities are depicted below:

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Charging use Impacts Possible V2G related

case Opportunities
Home Overloading issues may be expected Off-peak charging or reduction of
charging for distribution transformer, feeder variable renewable energy curtailment
loading etc. via load shifting depending on
connection time duration and charging
time.
Workplace Lower probability of overloading  Potential increase of
charging issues due to larger capacities typical consumption of solar generation due
in commercial or industrial zones. to typical daytime connection.
 Flexibility potential
Public Overloading issues may be expected  Potential increase of
roadside for distribution transformer, feeder consumption of RE generation due to
charging loading etc. especially with higher typical daytime connection.
power draws from three-phase  Flexibility potential
charging.
En route Potential high-power draw. Limited demand response flexibility
charging Depending on the power and volume due to short or non-existent surplus
(Ex: required, dedicated transformer or connection time.
Highways stationary storage serving as a buffer
etc.) might be required.
Depot  Expected high-power draw  Fleet predictability and load
charging due to larger volumes and numbers management offer high potential for
of vehicles served. load shifting, variable renewable
 Dedicated substation might energy, curtailment reduction and
be needed, but the added cost can bidirectional charging due to larger
remain viable due to the nature of battery capacities and existing fleet
the commercial operation. control.
 Network upgrades might  Flexibility potential might be
encounter land use restrictions, limited to a few hours depending on
especially if located in dense urban the parking period and trip
areas scheduling.
Battery  Limited overloading issues  24/7 bidirectional interaction
swapping due to charging control with the grid and the aggregated
capacity could facilitate VRE.
 Battery charging management
can help reduce asset ageing.

 Bi-Directional Charger

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V2G requires a bi-directional system to deliver electricity from the grid to batteries of
EVs and vice versa. This bi-directional system can be facilitated using double uni-
directional or single bi-directional converters. However, the utilization of double uni-
directional converters (chargers) means a higher initial cost, heavier weight, and larger
space requirements. Therefore, the bi-directional converters and the advanced
development of solid-state technology has led to optimum techno-economic benefits. A
bi-directional AC-DC converter facilitates both AC-DC power conversion and power
factor correction. The EVs with bi-directional converters can achieve various features due
to the nature of the power flow both from and to the grid. When the batteries of EVs are
idle but still connected to the grid, they can provide energy to the grid when the demand is
high, enhancing the grid efficiency. Also, bi-directional charging plays a key part in
integrating RES with the grid. While bi-directional charging aids in voltage regulation,
recurrent charging and discharging (cycling) of the battery causes battery degradation,
which finally affects the battery life. Another issue with bi-directional charging is the
additional cost involved with its infrastructure. Further, OEMs may explore the
capabilities of V2G-enabled EVs in executing the reactive power compensation, leaving
the EV batteries charged and at the same time does not expose them to additional
discharging–charging cycles.

 Communication System

The communication between the grid and the EVs to transfer the data (e.g., SoC of
battery, distance, etc.) and decide the charging mode results in a complex communication
structure. The seamless communication among the EVs, Charging Stations and
monitoring stations is a prerequisite to designing a charging stations network in an area.
For achieving this, specific standards have been established, which have been set for EVs
in four levels of the V2G technology: the plug, communication network scheme, charging
topology, and safety standards. In V2G technology, both the data and the energy flow are
bi-directional amongst the vehicles, charging stations, and power networks. As
summarized below, ISO/ IEC 15110 standard establishes the standard for EV charging
station communication, while the IEC 61850 standard establishes the standard charging
station-grid communication as a result of which tariffs and charging are carried out
effectively.

 Indian/ International Standard related to EV charging system

Brief Summary of Indian/International Standards related to EV charging system are as
follows:

Standards Selected Features

IS 17017 Electric vehicle charging standard in India
IS 17896 Electric Vehicle Battery Swap System
IEEE 1547 Interconnections to grid
ISO 15118  Replacement for IEC 61851 or ISO 15118-2
 Improved
 Charging experience

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 Smart charging services

 Grid services
 Cyber-security
 Bidirectional power flow for
 More RE uptake
 Grid stability
 Grid code support features
EN 50491-12  Integration of EV into Energy Management Systems (EMS)
 Large-scale smart charging
 Improved interoperability
IEC 62196 Plugs, socket-outlets, vehicle couplers, and vehicle inlets—conductive
charging of electric vehicles
IEC 61850-x Communication networks and systems in substations
IEC 61439-5 Low-voltage switchgear and control gear assemblies, and assemblies for
power distribution in public networks
IEC 61140 Protection against electric shock—common aspects for installation and
equipment
IEC 62040 Uninterruptible power systems (UPS)
IEC 60529 Degrees of protection provided by enclosures
IEC 60364-7-722 Low voltage electrical installations, requirements for special installations,
or locations—supply of EVs
ISO 6469-3 Electrically propelled road vehicles, safety specification, and protection of
persons against electric shock
IEEE 2030.5 Enables utility management of the distributed energy resources such as
electric vehicles through demand response, load control and time-of-day
pricing
Open Charge Open Charge Point Protocol, an application protocol for communication
Point Protocol between EVSEs and a central management system, allowing charging
(OCPP) stations and central management systems from different vendors to
communicate with each other.
Open Charge Supports information exchange between e-mobility service providers (e-
Point Interface MSPs) and charge point operators to enable automated roaming between
protocol charging networks for EV owners. Supported features include charge
(OCPI) point information, charging session authorization, tariffs, reservation,
roaming, and smart charging.
OpenADR Open Automated Demand Response, a standardized demand response
protocol that encompasses EV charging and DER programs, facilitating a
common information exchange between utilities, aggregators, and
customers. For V2G applications, the standard can be used between the
EVSE and distributed energy resource (DER) management systems.
CHAdeMO/ Charging standard for electric vehicles that enables communication
Combined between the EV and the charger.
Charging System
(CCS)
IEC 63402 International version of EN 50491-12
(under
development
phase)

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IEC 63119 Alignment with other EV-related IEC standards.

(under
development
phase)

 Aggregator

An aggregator must be able to participate in the electricity market through different

ancillary services for the grid by organizing and optimizing the EVs charging and
managing the load profile. In the first step of the process, the aggregator will establish a
connection to each vehicle in the EV fleet, which has a service contract with the
aggregator to utilize its battery, based on its current SoC to participate in ancillary
services to the grid. The data from the EV will pass on the parameters required by the
aggregator, with the condition for participation in the V2G system considering that the EV
is sufficiently charged before the plug-out time. However, if the EV owner does not abide
by the contract and drives away before the pre-notified departure time, the battery may not
be sufficiently charged at time of the plug-out. Since the aggregator deals with thousands
of vehicles at a time, the fraction of vehicles departing before the pre-notified time will
remain constant and is negligible.

Further, the aggregator makes another contract with the grid operator, about the type of
the service and regulation capacity to be provided to the grid or the power required by the
aggregator to charge the EVs at a particular time, thus simplifying the task of the grid
operator significantly.

 System Operation and Optimization

The power grid optimization has multiple objectives for smooth operation, but these
objectives are riddled with many uncertainties and non-linearities having multiple
constraints. Further, the dynamic and unpredictable nature of EVs could also increase the
system complexity in the grid, which requires the demand optimization algorithm to
utilize EV mobility to achieve V2G services, therefore, resource commitment becomes
necessary to determine the optimal despatch schedule, and various optimization
approaches are usually applied.

Another factor for consideration/ optimization for the charging stations is the location of
the grid substations. It is essential to understand that the location of the charging station
could be of interest to more than one sector, thus the decision of location of a charging
station is multi-disciplinary in nature. From the point of view of the electricity sector, the
location of the charging stations would be to minimize the investment, lessen the
operations and maintenance charges, etc. However, the consideration of the location of the
charging stations from traffic flow perspective could be different. Moving the location of
a charging station away from an existing load center is beneficial from a grid perspective
but is particularly undesirable from the consumer’s perspective. Some of the primary
considerations in planning the location of charging stations are to locate the station

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optimally in such a way that the EV drivers do not exceed their driving range while
traveling from origin to destination. Thus planning the EV charging station at a desirable
location to facilitate the adoption of the technology with only minor changes to their
driving habit may be considered and optimized accordingly so as to avoid wasteful
expenditure.

3. Expected benefits of V2G Technology in Transformation of Power Sector

 Optimized Grid Infrastructure Requirements

If high numbers of EVs were concentrated in certain geographical areas in an uncontrolled

charging environment, the local grid would be affected by the congestion since charging
load profile might match the existing load peaks and thus contribute to overloading of the
transmission and distribution network which would warrant upgrades at the distribution
and transmission levels. Additionally, this additional EV charging load would result in
additional generation capacity requirements. With V2G smart infrastructure, such
investments can largely be avoided by way complementing the EV charging load and the
distribution load profile. Unlike the uncontrolled charging, it decreases simultaneity and
lowers peaks in demand, thus would reduce the costs associated with reinforcing local
electricity grids.

EVs typically spend about 80-90% of their lifetime in parking zone. These idle periods,
combined with battery storage capacity, could make EVs an attractive flexibility solution
for the power system. Each EV could effectively become a micro grid-connected storage
unit with the potential to provide a broad range of services to the system. Further, V2G
charging may not only mitigates EV caused demand peaks mainly at the local grid level,
but also can adjust the load curve to integrate VRE.

 Flexibility in the Power System Operations

V2G charging of EVs could have impact on the integration of VRE, both in power system
operation and in long-term network expansion plans.

 System Flexibility due to EVs:

 Peak-shaving in the grid
 Frequency control (primary, secondary and tertiary reserve)
 Other ancillary services (e.g., voltage management, emergency power during
outages)
Peak-shaving: This involves flattening the peak demand and filling the “valley” of
demand by incentivizing late morning/ afternoon charging in systems with large
penetration of solar, and night time charging that could be adjusted following evening/
night time wind production, as cars are parked for a longer time than they need to fully
charge. Early evening charging that may otherwise increase peak demand would be
deferred in this way. Consequently, this would defer investments for building additional
peak capacity.

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Ancillary services: This involves supporting the real-time balancing of grids by

adjusting the EV charging levels to maintain steady voltage and frequency. While the
flexibility has been well-developed at the transmission system level, distribution system
level are mostly not yet equipped with flexibility from distributed energy resources for
operation.
 Local Flexibility:
 Voltage control
 Local congestion and capacity management
 Increasing the rate of Renewable Energy self-consumption
 Arbitrage between locally produced electricity and electricity from the grid
 Back-up power
Optimization and back-up power: This includes increasing self-consumption of
locally produced renewable electricity as well as lowering dependence on the
electricity grid and reducing the energy bill by buying low-cost electricity from the
grid at off-peak hours and using it to supply homes when the electricity tariff is higher
(during evenings). In addition, the EV battery can be used after it has been removed
from the vehicle. An EV battery usually be replaced when the capacity declines to 70–
80% (that is, when it may no longer be sufficient for daily mileage); however, the
performance is still sufficient for energy storage systems. This may offer a lifetime
extension of the battery. With increasing penetration of the EVs, the number of
potentially available second use batteries would increase. Acting as stationary storage
appliances after being removed from the vehicles, the batteries can further contribute
to power system support.
 V2G-Facilitated Resilience Contribution in areas prone to natural disasters
In areas prone due to extreme weather events, such as cyclones, floods etc., enabling EVs
as mobile power units could be particularly useful in enhancing resilience in these areas.
In this respect, V2G may provide power back to the grid or to specific buildings, such as
emergency shelters, hospitals, other critical facilities, or an entire neighborhood during
power outages.
4. Key factors for Enabling V2G:

 EV charging Provision by Government/ Government Agencies

 Ministry of Power (MoP) targets for public charging

Issued the “Guidelines and Standards for Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles” in
2018, amended in 2019. Salient points of the guidelines are:
 Bureau of Energy Efficiency is the central nodal agency (CNA) for all public EV
charging infrastructure.
 State governments need to appoint state nodal agencies (SNA) for setting up
public charging infrastructure.

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 Provision of guidelines and requirements (including charger types, electrical

infrastructure requirements, testing and certification, and phased rollout) for public
charging infrastructure.
 Electric vehicle charging equipment to be tested by any lab/facility accredited by
National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratory (NABL).
 No license required for operating EV charging stations.
 Notification for setting maximum tariff for private charging at residences and
offices, tariff not to be more than average cost of supply plus 15 percent.

In its Charging Infrastructure Guidelines and Standards, the MoP also provides the
following minimum requirements for the location of public charging stations:
 At least one charging station should be available in a grid of 3km x 3km.
 One charging station to be set up every 25km on both sides of highways/roads.
As per MoP guidelines, the public charging stations may contain one or more, or any
combination, connector types etc. Charging stations for e-2Ws and e-3Ws can install any
charger, provided they adhere to technical and safety standards laid down by the Central
Electricity Authority (CEA).

 MoHUA targets for semi-public charging

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) amended its Model Building
Byelaws (MBBL), 2016 to include the provision of EV charging in buildings. The
amendments have been made in Chapter 10 (Sustainability and Green Provisions) of the
MBBL, 2016, with Section 10.4 titled “Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure”.
 Charging infrastructure shall be provided for EVs at 20% of all ‘vehicle holding
capacity’/ ‘parking capacity’ at the premises.
 The building premises will have to have an additional power load, equivalent to
the power required for all charging points to be operated simultaneously, with a
safety factor of 1.25.
The amendments are applicable to all buildings except independent residences. Further,
provision norms for slow chargers (SCs) are provided based on the number of EVs to be
serviced, by segment. Norms for fast chargers (FCs) are not compulsory.
Provision 4Ws 3Ws 2Ws Buses
Norms For 1 SC per 3 EVs 1 SC per 2 EVs 1 SC per 2 1 FC per 10
Charging Points 1 FC per 10 EVs EVs EVs

However, the States/ UTs have the power to adopt and enforce amendments to building
byelaws, through urban development authorities or municipal corporations. With
buildings typically having a lifespan of 50 years or more, States/ UTs are recommended to
adopt the EV charging infrastructure amendments at the earliest to ensure that all new
constructions are EV-ready.
 Government of NCT of Delhi mandates 5% parking for EV charging

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In March 2021, the Government of NCT of Delhi directed all commercial and institutional
buildings with a parking capacity of more than 100 vehicles to set aside 5% of their
parking spaces for EV charging. This includes shopping malls, hospitals, hotels, offices,
educational institutions, movie theaters, etc. Properties will be required to set up slow EV
chargers (at a minimum) at the reserved parking spots, and will be able to avail of a
subsidy of INR 6,000 per charging point, as provided by the Delhi EV Policy.

 Charging Infrastructure

Slow chargers – are mostly used for home and office charging. With slow charging, the
EV battery is connected to the grid for longer periods of time, increasing the possibility of
providing flexibility services to the power system. Long-duration charging may provide
the flexibility in the power system as most of the charging takes place at home during the
evening, and at night and at the workplace during the day.

Medium-duration (typically 30 minutes to 2 hours) chargers - at shopping or leisure

centres (movie theatre, gym, etc.) or short-duration (15 minutes to 1 hour) charging
provide minimum flexibility for the system and may be less suited for grid services.

Fast charging – on the highways is rather exceptional today as EVs are not yet used for
long trips mainly due to the limited range issue and the lack of appropriate charging
infrastructure. Fast and ultra-fast charging does not leave batteries connected to the
system long enough to provide flexibility. The impact of fast charging on the grid will
need to be mitigated by installing charging points in areas that have a low impact on local
peak demand and congestion. Also, combining fast-charging infrastructure with locally
installed VRE and stationary energy storage can, through buffering, increase the
flexibility of the station vis-à-vis the grid.

In light of the above, it is to be observed that slow charging is best suited for the "smart"
approach that boosts the power system flexibility. But solutions like battery swapping,
charging stations with buffer storage, and night time charging for EV fleets can help to in
mitigating the peak-demand stress from fast and ultra-fast charging, reinforcing the local
electricity grids. Unlike uncontrolled charging, it decreases simultaneity and lowers peaks
in demand.

 Roles and responsibilities of the Stakeholders

One of the important characteristic of the smart charging is being at the junction between
the electricity market and e-mobility. Unlike “traditional” charging, where the e-mobility
market (EV drivers, charging point operators, mobile service providers) acts
independently of the electricity market, the smart charging requires a close co-ordination
between the two in order to both accommodate e-mobility requirements in the power
system and provide the power system with the needed flexibility.

 Regulatory priorities

To make V2G successful, there is a need to the stack revenues from multiple revenue
streams, providing flexibility at both the system and local levels. The key regulatory

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aspects that are needed include implementing, initially, time-of-use tariffs (i.e. increase
the price differential between the peak and the off-peak is, the more effective the rate
design is. The setting of the peak and off-peak (or even “super off-peak”) corresponds to
the characteristics of the local electricity system. In most cases, the drivers can pre-set the
charging for off-peak hours through an app or the on-board system of the vehicle and then
the dynamic prices for EV charging would allow the EVs to participate in ancillary
service markets which would enable revenue stacking.

First, the appropriate price signal is a key enabler for the implementation of V2G, because
the price signals to EV users would make it possible to shift the demand for EV charging
to off-peak periods and to match it with the availability of renewable energy sources.
Increasing automation would enable both drivers and service providers to manage this
system. For example: Several retailers, mainly in the United States, have adopted EV
home charging tariffs, offering charging rates up to 95% lower at night compared to
during the day.

Second, having a single revenue stream would be insufficient to make a business case for
V2G. In other words, the batteries will have to “stack” the revenue by serving multiple
applications, providing services to both system level and locally.

The policies and regulations should allow EV batteries to provide different services to the
power system, encouraging stacking of services and revenues. But multiple levies for
V2G need to be avoided as this would make the grid support by EVs non-remunerative.
The charges should be applied only to the net energy transferred for the purpose of
driving.

 Business models
The business models need to account for the requirements of the power system such as
remuneration for providing ancillary services to power systems and the vehicle owner –
by providing mobility and preserving the condition of the vehicle and the battery. The
parameters such as speed of charging, the health of EV batteries, the potential reduced
battery lifetimes and others must therefore be monitored. These should be taken into
account when determining the V2G charging business models.

Few examples:
1. Providing operation services would require the battery to act “on call” while receiving
stable revenues just for being available. On the other hand, the electricity price
arbitrage requires repetitive charging and discharging, which greatly reduces the
battery life.
2. EV batteries can provide the fast response needed for some ancillary services, but
their power capacity is limited; thus a single EV cannot provide these services for the
period of time needed by the power system. However, when EVs are aggregated they
can complement one other, resulting in a virtual power plant with a fast response and
the ability to provide services for the needed period of time. The aggregator business
models may facilitate the use of EVs as a source of flexibility. At least 1-2 MW
capacity must be traded to make EV power provision viable in the market. This
requires the aggregation of around 500 vehicles approximately along with charging
points.

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The smart charging following renewable energy generation patterns needs to be

incentivized by appropriate market design and automated control. Possible EV Revenue
Streams may be:
(a) Direct benefit
(b) Services sold via aggregator:
 At transmission system level: Fast Frequency reserves; Primary reserves;
Secondary reserves
 At Distribution system level: Congestion management via load shifting/peak
shaving; Voltage control

 Batteries Capabilities regarding Grid Balancing Services

Key technical terms for classifying battery technologies:
 End of Life (EoL): is the moment when the battery retains only a fraction
(typically 70%) of its initial capacity. It is expressed as a percentage of initial
capacity.
 Depth of discharge (DoD): is the percentage (compared to full capacity) to which
the battery can be discharged.
 State of charge (SoC): is the capacity of the battery expressed as a percentage of
the full capacity at which the battery is during usage charge.
 Cycling rate (C-rate): is the rate of charge or discharge. 1 C refers to a charge or
discharge in 1 hour, 2 C refers to 2 hours, and 0.5 C refers to 30 minutes.

EV battery capacity and technical characteristics determine the extent to which cars
support the renewable energy sources integration. Today, most of the EVs are having
lithium-ion batteries. The cost reductions coupled with battery performance improvements
and suitability for grid applications makes this technology a worthy choice.

The EV battery capabilities to provide specific grid services are key in this context, setting
aside their impact on the vehicle’s performance. Capabilities to provide services to the
grid and corresponding technologies will depend on the considered application. For
example, for balancing RE, high depth of discharge tolerance, i.e., the extent to which the
battery can be discharged is necessary. A large number of full charging cycles per year
(typically around 300) is necessary for a battery to provide system-wide balancing
variability in renewable generation. A high depth of discharge (DoD) tolerance is
required. All types of lithium-ion batteries are the best suited today. However, redox flow
battery technology, with its long cycle life, is able to undergo high DoD and can provide
this service. For ancillary services, lower depth of discharge is required. Since batteries
must be able to inject power when frequency is low and also to consume power when
frequency is high, the ideal standby state of charge is approximately 50%, which means
that the selected batteries should be able to work at lower state of charge.

Ancillary services are used to balance the electricity grid i.e., to keep the grid frequency
around the reference. These services can be divided into primary reserve, secondary
reserve and tertiary reserve:
 For primary reserve, DoD and battery involvement is smoother than for
renewables balancing. When the frequency drops, the battery must inject power

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and vice versa. To do so, the referenced battery state of charge remains around
50% and will fluctuate in a narrow band around this level.
 For secondary reserve, the reaction time needed is slower and the amount of
cycles required is lower.
 For tertiary reserve, the reaction time needed is slower and the number of cycles
required is lower. The energy needed is higher.

Li-ion batteries can compete with other technologies used for stationary storage such as
lead acid and redox flow batteries. Battery degradation from increasing the number of
charge/ discharge cycles has been a long-debated issue with respect to V2G and battery
swapping. Battery degradation is affected mainly by the discharge current, the depth of
discharge and the temperature of operation. But the recent studies have shown that battery
degradation with V2G is limited if the battery stays within a state of charge of around 60-
80%. The impact is similar to normal AC charging.

Application Renewable Ancillary services Back up

storage
Battery High DoD 50%S Low DoD Low Long 70%Do
acceptance oC C-rate standby at D
high SoC
Li-ion ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ x ✓
Lead Acid x ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Redox Flow ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ x ✓
Note: DoD (Depth of discharge), SoC (State of charge), C-rate (Cycling rate)

Battery chemistry evolution would affect not only mobility aspects such as driving range
but also the speed of charging (also related to grid infrastructure reinforcement needs) and
the ability of batteries to provide grid services. Despite high energy density and suitability
for both mobility and grid applications, Li-ion technology has limitations in terms of
safety as well as related potential cost impacts. Improving the safety parameters of any Li-
ion sub-chemistry would in turn lead to deteriorated performance in particular energy
density. Li-ion batteries would age more quickly in charged state (not stable) compared to
lead-acid batteries. To use Li-ion for back-up for a long time, the battery would have to be
kept partially charged, not completely charged, to keep the chemistry stable and to prevent
any runaway or drastic capacity decrease thus using the battery at only a portion of its
capabilities. Even though lead-acid does not perform cycling, it can be maintained at a
high state of charge for a long time without ageing. A number of technical challenges
would need to be overcome to maintain the grid-related capabilities with these
technologies.

 Second-life Storage Applications

An alternative to recycling of used EV batteries is reconditioning them and reusing them

in stationary applications. The second-life battery solutions could also provide energy
storage services. An EV battery needs to be replaced when the capacity declines to 70-
80% that is when it is no longer sufficient for daily mileage but is still in good condition
to be used as an energy storage system.

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 Harnessing Synergies between EVs and Solar & Wind Power

By way of smart charging infrastructure, when many cars are trying to charge at the same
time, the system rotates them to allocate capacity. This system makes it possible to charge
all the EVs by distributing the available power across all the vehicles and charging them
in sequence, without overloading the local feeders. Network reinforcement would be
required when power is insufficient to charge all the vehicles (e.g., overnight). With the
adoption of EVs, V2G strategies could be synched with RE sources to not only minimise
the impact of extra load on the power system, but also harness the synergies between EVs
and renewables in the system.

EV fleets can create vast electricity storage capacity. However, optimal charging patterns
would depend on the precise energy mix. EV integration differs in systems with high
shares of solar-based generation compared with systems where wind power prevails. If
synergies established, the use of EVs as a flexibility resource via smart charging
approaches would reduce the need for investment in flexible, carbon-intensive, fossil-fuel
power plants to balance RE.

While EVs do not release emissions when driven, they use electricity that often comes
largely from fossil fuels. To reap the full benefits of both, the electrification of transport
must go hand in hand with de-carbonisation of the power sector. The examples in this
respect made by the countries of Japan and Sweden are worth to mention. Sweden’s entire
VRE generation comes from wind whereas Japan´s comes from solar. In this sense, Japan
could use its 26 GW of pumped storage hydro to store excess solar PV during the day, and
then use that electricity to charge the EVs at night. However, in the Swedish case, the
charging of EVs could be more spread throughout the day and night to match the
availability profiles of wind.

The incremental benefits of V2G will be particularly significant in solar-based systems.

By shifting charging to better coincide with solar PV generation, and by implementing
V2G, increased shares of solar could be integrated at the system level and the local grid
level, mitigating the need for investments in the distribution grid. For EV charging to
complement solar, the charging must shift to mid-day, which also means that charging
stations must be located at workplaces and other commercial premises where EV owners
park their vehicles during the day. For that, pre-cabling and smart chargers should be
promoted at commercial buildings.

Wind production profiles are more region specific. In some regions, these profiles may
match well with EV charging profiles, even if EVs are charged in an uncontrolled way,
because wind may blow more in the evening and at night when EVs are connected for
charging. In such systems, the focus should be mainly on the home charging at night and
on adjusting dynamically to variations in wind production.

The smart charging provides benefits in the systems having high solar PV than wind, due
to the more predictable generation profile from solar. The incremental benefits of smart
charging in terms of impact on renewable capacity could thus be high with solar, mainly
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with the use of affordable batteries that can store excess renewable power that is not
consumed during the day, and then despatch this power later. In this respect, workplace
and commercial charging would be key for ‘solar-based systems’ preferably. The potential
synergies between home charging for ‘wind-based systems’, combined with home solar
needs to be explored.

 Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Control & Communication

Protocols

In order to optimize the charging infrastructure vis-à-vis local grid system and facilitate
information sharing, communication protocols need to be developed. V2G charging
involves the charging of an EV controlled by bi-directional communication between two
or more actors to optimize all customer requirements, as well as grid management, and
energy production including renewables with respect to system costs, reliability, security
safety and limitations, if any.

The communication protocols so developed need to be standardized, while V2G charging

stations and control systems need to be made interoperable, i.e., interoperability between
EVs and supply equipment. There is a need that these protocols allow for connecting the
central system with any charge point, regardless of the Charging Point Operators (CPOs).
The control mechanism can be enabled by the grid, the charging point or the vehicle itself.
Further, a communication system with the grid allows the charging process to take into
account actual grid capabilities and conditions as well as customer preferences for
charging and discharging options. The price or control signals can be communicated
through an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure, for
example, intelligent metering system, communication between charging stations and
back-end systems, in order to allow algorithms to take into consideration generation and
grid constraints, as well as to enable customers to benefit from price opportunities and
charging station information to provide a continuous forecast of the available capacity.

 The Role of DISCOMs

The distribution companies (DISCOMs) are responsible for providing electricity

connections for the EV charging infrastructure, implementing the EV tariff structure
approved by the SERCs/ JERCs, ensuring that EV charging infrastructure is connected
and operated and maintained properly, preventing improper use of EV charging
infrastructure, managing the distribution network, and undertaking grid upgrades based on
growth in load including from EV charging requirements.

The DISCOMs should conduct assessments of EV charging requirements at the grid and
feeder levels for different scenarios of EV penetration, with other factors of interest such
as spatial concentration of EVs, differential EV charging patterns, and the model impacts
of Time-of-Use/ Time-of-Day (ToD) measures. Subsequently, the DISCOMs should
develop EV readiness plans based on charging load impacts on the grid infrastructure.
This would help the DISCOMs devise their load management strategies, develop grid
upgrade plans, and plan for additional procurement of additional power, if needed.

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 Role of Charging Point Operators (CPOs) and e-mobility service providers (e-MSPs)

The Charging Point Operators (CPOs) and e-mobility service providers (e-MSPs) manage
and enable day-to-day operations of EV charging infrastructure. The CPOs and e-MSPs
are also responsible for setting up the framework architecture, protocols, and processes to
enable centralized management of charging facilities and their communication with the
DISCOMs, and ensure efficient access to EV charging services for the customers.

The DISCOMS (public or private) are also entering the charging infrastructure market as
CPOs. These utilities typically use their own land to set up public EV charging facilities
and operate them as paid services. The DISCOMs may also provide bundled charging
services for private EV owners, and recover the capital and operating costs through
electricity tariffs. Other stakeholders driving the service provider model of EV charging
implementation include companies/ start-ups that are moving into charging infrastructure,
and EV manufacturers who are setting up charging infrastructure networks as allied
services.

 Digitalization

The digitalization would eventually help to break silos between power and charging
infrastructure by facilitating smart charging. Once high EV penetration is reached, the
forecast availability of flexibility in the grid needs to be modified based on the preferences
of the individual driver. There is need for an incentive for the user to plug in as much as
possible to exploit the full potential of flexibility in grid support. The individual customers
participating in smart charging would have to be ensured that a sufficiently charged
vehicle is always available them for their commute. Also, the charging habits would not
be homogeneous due to difference in the sensitivity to price, travel habits, access to
parking, attitudes towards re-charging and perceptions to different EV charging options.

The digitalization would inform customers and empower them by encouraging appropriate
price signals in all geographies. The dynamic pricing may send signal to the EV owners
about the best time to charge and discharge. Highly digitized environment would enable
both the drivers and service providers to manage the ecosystem well.

 Artificial Intelligence and Big data

The smart charging through use of V2G integration technologies is a means of managing
EV loads, either by customer response to price signals or by an automated response to the
control signals as per the grid conditions, or a combination of the two, while respecting
the customer’s needs for vehicle availability. It consists of shifting some charging cycles
in time or modulating the power in function of some constraints, for example, the
connection capacity, user needs, real-time local energy production. The advancements in
the big data and artificial intelligence could facilitate and optimize the services provided
by smart charging solutions. The ICT advancements including data management and data
analytics from drivers, charging patterns, and charging stations would enhance smart
charging functionalities and automise the services required to the grid. In addition, the
digital technologies and data analytics would enable the mobility demand with power
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supply patterns to be as compatible as possible and to decide about the most optimal
locations for charging points. If direct control mechanisms enabled by the EV and the
charging point are in place, further services could be provided to the grid without
affecting consumers’ needs. For instance, the customers could set the car’s departure time
and / or the required battery capacity reserve. The charging station then determines the
current battery status and calculates the energy necessary to reach the desired state in the
most optimal way to improve the power system’s economic and environmental
performance.

The use of digital tools may help in enhancing the acceptance of EVs for V2G by the
customers including lessening the market complexity while interacting with the grid to
increase the renewable energy shares. For example, a smart charging system may enable
automatic charging of EVs when energy cost is lower.

 V2G in Island Systems

The islands away far from the mainland are often dependent on fossil fuels, in particular,
petroleum-derived fuels representing a major share of the total primary energy use as the
inclusion of traditional sources is limited, for their energy needs. While each isolated
system is different in terms of weather, population and economic activity, the response to
power system shocks in island regions is generally demanding, i.e. the loss of a few
electricity supply units has a bigger impact than in interconnected systems, and the effects
of voltage/ frequency drops are very significant. As a result, balancing the grid is more
onerous and the risk of load shedding and brown outs/ black-outs is frequent requiring
additional generation reserves. Introducing VRE for meeting the carbon neutrality goals is
challenging from the system stability point of view.

The typical electricity consumption of an EV driving 15,000 km/year is about 3,000 kWh/
year. Even with slow charging, i.e., charging with low power, say 3.7 kW, the total idle
time would be about 15% of the total time required for charging the EVs on yearly basis.
Supposing that an EV is connected to charging infrastructure 100% of its parking time,
this means that the yearly “flexibility window” for charging represents about 85% of the
time. Theoretically, this would translate into a flexible energy output of about 3000 kWh/
year per car. In other words, EVs can be charged in a fraction of their parking time.
Incentivizing charging at times when electricity is the cheapest represents a significant
opportunity for the power system and for EV owners.

 Standardization also will facilitate the spread of V2G technology which currently has an
interface cost approximately 3-5 times higher than that of unidirectional smart charging.

 Battery Swapping

The redundant battery storage at the stations or battery swapping with supplementary
battery storage that can draw power from the grid at the most optimal time and then use it
to charge EV batteries could complement grid balancing.

A major issue when it comes to higher penetration of EVs is their initial cost, of which
around 50% is attributed to the battery packs in EVs. The battery swapping can also
overcome this hurdle if an ideal scenario of pay-as-you-go model is adopted, where a third

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party holds ownership of the batteries and manage their charging requirements. In this
case, Battery Swapping Stations (BSSs) are needed which adds to the infrastructural costs.
A topology of BSS, along with a battery sharing network, may interact with each other
using Internet-of-Things (IoT), thereby acting as an aggregator and providing services as a
whole to the grid, such as enhancing grid stability and reliability in the process. Even if
the infrastructural cost associated with this topology is kept aside, the idea of owning a car
without the battery and having no guarantee for the State of Charge of the battery that is
swapped can operate as a social barrier from the viewpoint of the customer. Some of the
barriers in respect of battery swapping are mentioned below as:
 Lack of standardization among EV batteries
 Unsuitable battery pack design to enable ease of swapping (weight, dimensions
etc.)
 Shorter commercial life of battery packs due to customer preference for new
batteries with higher range.
 Slow adoption of charging method by OEMs.
 Higher costs of battery leasing over the life of the EV
At present, battery swapping may be considered feasible solution for commercial EV
fleets, especially in the EV (2 W & 3 W segments). As robotic swapping is used for
4W and Electric buses for swapping batteries due to larger and heavier batteries
requiring mechanical assistance. These swapping stations are also expensive and
require bigger piece of land.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has allowed the sale and
registration of EVs without batteries, which provides a huge boost to battery swapping
solutions. Further, the industry stakeholders are making large investments in
developing the battery swapping ecosystem. This indicates that battery swapping
would emerge as a distinct part of EV charging networks in India in the coming years.

 Interaction with the vehicle owner is key, including the forecasting of use in terms of
schedule and driving distance.

5. Implementation Requirements

Technical Requirements Hardware:

 Widespread adoption of EVs.
 Public and private charging infrastructure – smart charging
points.
 Smart meters – required for supplying interval values for net
consumption and net production
Software:
 Smart charging services such as energy and power flow
management systems that allow for optimal EV charging, ICT
systems, intelligent charging infrastructure or advanced
algorithms for local integration with distributed energy
sources.
ICT structure and development of communication protocols:

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 Develop common interoperable standards (both at physical

and ICT layers).
 Develop a uniform solution for the method of communication
between charge points and the central power system,
regardless of the vendor.
Regulatory Requirements Electricity Market:
 Allow EVs, through aggregators or individually, to provide
services in the ancillary service market and wholesale market.
 Enable revenue streams to incentivize smart charging of EVs.
 Efficient price signals (such as time-of-use tariffs) or other
load management schemes to incentivize smart charging.
 Understand customer behavior and create awareness of the
possibilities to use load management.

6. Challenges

 Impact on grid infrastructure

As outlines earlier, the EV charging would have an impact on the grid investments. The
scope of grid investments in terms of cables/ wires and transformers that would require to
be made in a given location would depend on the following parameters:
 Congestion: such as in the local distribution network prior to any EV deployment.
The failure to distribute the EV charging locations increases congestion in the
distribution grid congestion thus leading to grid asset ageing and service
interruptions. Both of these challenges have potential to increase the cost of electricity
supply, create inconveniences for EV charging and ultimately increase the cost of EV
ownership.
 Load characteristics: for example, the impact of uncontrolled EV charging would be
higher in locations with high shares of electric heating thus leading to higher grid
reinforcement. As the EV fleet size increases, the failure to manage EV charging may
lead to an increase in peak demand and cause operational challenges for the grid. If
EVs were charged simultaneously in an uncontrolled way they could increase the
peak demand on the grid, contributing to overloading and the need for upgrades. The
extra load may even result in the need for additional generation capacity
 Generation assets connected at low voltage level: for example, integration of high
shares of solar PV connected at low voltage level (for example, in Germany) could be
facilitated with smart charging, whereas in locations with no or very low shares of
solar PV, EVs could increase the strain on local grids.
 Grid Code limits and other regulations: for example, national grid codes define
physical constraints in terms of both voltage and frequency variations that grid
operators have to respect, and investment in grid reinforcement if these country-
specific limits are exceeded due to EV charging.
 Voltage imbalance and Power Quality issues: Residential loads in the distribution
network are mostly connected at low voltage levels. Residential EV charging too is
mainly connected to the LV distribution network, which brings another set of
challenges. Based on the line resistance and reactance, each bus has a critical voltage
where the active power is the highest. The ratio of change in voltage due to change in
active power is termed as Voltage Sensitivity Factor (VSF). A high VSF means that
even for small changes in active power, there is a significant drop in voltage and vice

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versa. EV charging stations introduce large active power demand from the network,
and the consumption of power is significantly higher for fast chargers compared to
slow chargers. So, an Electric Vehicle Charging Station (EVCS) installed in a bus
with high VSF will significantly degrade the voltage at the point of connection.
Voltage unbalance issues can also come up due to unequal loading of the three
phases. In case of EV charging, if the single phase chargers are not equally distributed
among the three phases, voltage imbalances may occur. Further as these EV chargers
are power electronic devices so they also inject harmonics into the system. Hence, the
challenge would be to keep harmonics within the limits.

 Less compatibility of Mobility-as-a-service with EV based flexibility

Car sharing and carpooling are already changing the habits of the customers. Moving
away from vehicle ownership to shared mobility and to Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) is
expected to continue progressively with digitalization. Further, the increased daily
distances travelled per car would imply reduce parking time i.e., less battery capacity
available for the grid support services. Consequently, the net available flexibility in the
system might decrease, especially during the daytime, for balancing solar power. The
implications for the availability of EV flexibility which may decrease in a future system
based on shared vehicles compared to a transport system based on individual EV
ownership needs to be studied in detail. MaaS could work against VRE integration, as
fewer EV batteries connect to the grid.

Studies have shown that “ride-sharing” could lead to an increase in the number of
kilometres. Nevertheless, downwards pressure on available flexibility is likely to occur
under this scenario, as:
 Distance travelled by individual cars would increase, reducing the amount of time
that they are idle and connected to the grid.
 Zones of strain on the local power grid can be created once charging is focused in
hubs. These hubs may be relevant for centralised flexibility management in the
night but still probably lower than with individual car ownership, as transport
service optimization will aim at maximum usage. Vehicle fleets would have to be
steered towards an optimised fleet charging and routing, contributing to the goals
of EV grid integration and optimised renewable energy use.

 Fast charging

Fast charging represents a challenge for grid infrastructure. The higher the power, the
more capacity is required from the grid. In addition, the locally deployed charging station/
cables and vehicle must support this power. Both of those are technologically feasible but
come at a price:
 Vehicles require more expensive electronics and protection devices.
 Grid connection of fast-charging stations requires bigger cables and transformers.
 Such charging stations require more expensive electronics and cooling as well as
protecting devices.
 Active cooling of the charging cable is needed if very heavy duty cables are to be
avoided. Increasing voltage level of supply may mitigate the need for heavier
cable and/or active cooling, but this may not be an optimal solution considering
the interoperability with the existing infrastructure and with the existing EVs).
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 Fast charging applications generally have low potential for VGI even though it is
technically possible. When fast charging is needed, there is no real flexibility
option due to short charging time. Further the peak load at highway stations may
not coincide with conventional peak load. The impact of fast charging on the grid
would need to be mitigated by installing charging points in areas with low impact
on local peak demand and congestion while achieving a high utilization rate (for
profitability).

 Batteries Capacity

Depending on the geography and specifically the access to a private parking space at the
residential level, the proportions among the charging locations might differ. In less
densely populated areas, most of the charging cycles are performed at home or at work. In
densely populated cities with no charging points at home or at work, a larger proportion of
the charging could be done in public places in the city. Large parking spaces or bus depots
have more technical opportunities and incentives to contribute to energy flexibility than
do disperse charging locations. However, most charging is done at home and at the office
today due to individual ownership of vehicles and to the low cost of charging this way.
How much battery capacity can be made available for smart charging depends on the
vehicle’s battery capacity and on drivers’ needs.

Typical Battery Specifications for Different EV Segments used in India are as follows:

EV Segment Battery Capacity Battery Voltage

2w 1.2-3.3 kWh 48-72 V
3w 3.6-8 kWh 48-60 V
4 w (1st gen) 21 kWh 72 V
4 w (2nd gen) 30-80 kWh 350-500 V

 The battery Capacity: electric 2-3 wheelers will offer less energy flexibility than
premium cars with bigger batteries.
 Sufficient State of Charge i.e., the available capacity of the battery at time of
departure may be guaranteed. At the moment of disconnection, the battery should
have a state of charge that meets the driver’s requested range (typically at 70-80%) so
that the car can still provide sufficient range. However, the importance of this
parameter will decrease with EVs having larger batteries, and with higher penetration
levels for charging stations. Bigger batteries helping to overcome range anxiety, there
will be more EVs with larger batteries connected to the grid.

Parameters such as speed of charging, the health of EV batteries, potential reduced battery
lifetimes and others must therefore be monitored. For example, providing operation
services would require the battery to act “on call” while providing stable revenues just for
being available. On the other hand, electricity price arbitrage requires repetitive charge
and discharge, which greatly reduces the battery life.

 Deterioration in Life Cycle of the Batteries

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Battery degradation would be an issue with V2G technology, as the frequent charging and
discharging cycles of the battery induced by the nature of the V2G infrastructure might
degrade the battery life span. This would have a huge impact on the viability of the
business models that pin on the V2G technology and affect the social acceptance of the
technology. Battery degradation is primarily dependent on two factors: calendar aging
and cycling aging. While the former is dependent on temperature and SoC, the latter is
dependent on the depth of discharge and power throughput. Recent research shows that
V2G, if used without proper management, may lead to significant battery life reduction,
which would be the case when, for example, peak shaving services are used daily.

 Charging Pattern

The charging patterns of shared and commercial cars e.g., taxi and other car fleets, etc.
may be less predictable, depending on the business models. Nevertheless, the transport
service revenue is critical and the time of standing still should be reduced to a minimum,
leading to smaller time with grid connection and higher charging power, compared to
individual cars. While cargo transport may occur mainly during the night, commercial
services like taxis still have higher demand during the day.

The duration for which EV is connected to the grid depends on the immobilization time,
which is determined by the type of vehicle, its use and charging time. Taxis or buses that
travel to and fro would have less immobilization time and therefore less flexibility than
single EV used by individuals. While an electric bus or truck may use 100% or more of
battery capacity every day, passenger cars and two-wheelers may use 40% to 50% of it.
Further, when and where the vehicle is charged also depends on the car type, its use, the
geography and the availability of the infrastructure. The factors determining the amount of
available flexibility from a single EV:
 HOW LONG: Standing idle and “plugged in”
 WHEN: Time of day
 WHERE: Charging location
 WHAT: Charging technology/power level
 HOW MUCH: Battery capacity and desired state of charge at departure

 Profitability and competitiveness of EV flexibility with other flexible sources at the

power system level remains a key issue due to following factors:
 The price spreads in the system may be lowered.
 The revenues from ancillary services may not provide sufficient flexibility in all
markets.
 EVs would compete with other types of decentralized flexibility such as demand-
response resources, and with the used EV batteries themselves.
 The EV case may be more powerful at the local grid level, leading to potential
minimalisation of low and medium voltage grid extension requirements. However,
this potential business case would need to be monetized for EV drivers and service
providers.

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 As standardization progresses and as the requirements for better control of the

charging power increase, the vehicles and charging points would have smart
charging options including discharging as a common feature provided by auto
manufacturers/ OEMs, and technically enabling provision of ancillary services to
the grid.

 Cyber-security

V2G technology requires a certain level of cyber-security for seamless operation and to
ensure grid security, since the digital grid handles massive amounts of data, making V2G
a perfect target for cyber-attacks. Thus, network security and integrity with data
transmission in the grid becomes essential for the seamless, safe and secure data transfer
from EVs to the grid.

7. Stakeholder Inputs

Utility Inputs Concerns

Tata (i) V2G is possible only when the vehicle is Role of Electric Utility:
Power connected to Charger. In general Vehicle is (i) Peak load management
predominantly connected to charger at his is one of the critical
premise especially during night time and at scenario of the power
public places it is intermittently connected while distribution utility through
there is a requirement of charging. So a major proper means. To manage
application of V2G would be supporting Grid the Power flow through
during Night Peak load especially during Batteries of EV there
summer where the Air conditioning load would should be an integration of
be predominant between21 hrs to 24 hrs. signal between the
(ii) Majority EV sold in India has a battery capacity chargers and Utility
ranging from 25KWh to 50KWH capacity. control centre. There
Average running km per day is about 40-60 should be a policy
Km/day. Remaining SOC available aftera day direction for sharing the
would be around 60-70%. controls between the
(iii) In general being a slow charger we can draw various service providers.
only minimum power of 3.3KW or 6.6 KW for (ii) Generally now for
a period of 2-3 hrs where it can support the grid conducting a Demand
thereby reducing the SOC by20-30% and response program, the
thereafter the charging of the battery could consumer consent is
happen. obtained in advance and
(iv)In order to enable V2G feature the first during that duration the
requirement would be enhancing the features of non- essential loads are
the following: being trimmed. In similar
a. Home charger: front when such
 As per prevailing scenario more than requirement is needed, the
50,000 no’s of home charging were being EV bus depot consent to
installed by TATA power to support EV be established first and
OEMs. necessary control to be
 Current prevailing ratings are 3.3KW, enabled from the back end

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6.6KW, 11KW AC chargers are being through proper integration

used. of multiple system.
 As far as 3.3KW chargers is concerned it
is mere a plug and socket arrangement Role of EV OEM:
with ELCB control. Here the consumer (i) Currently the
uses the cable arrangement provided by prevailing onboard charger
EV OEM where the one end simple AC in the EV is a uni-
plug in inserted in to the socket and the directional charger ranging
other side charging gun of Type-2 is from 3.3 kW to 6.6 kW.
inserted in to the vehicle. Here the AC to Needs to be upgraded to
DC conversion happens inside the EV Bidirectional feature.
where the Vehicle has an onboard (ii) Sharing of BMS
chargers of 3.3kW, 6.6kW and more with control to Utility and other
respect to the OEM design. service provider for V2G
 To facilitate the V2G, the existing onboard services.
charger inside the charger needs to be (iii) Vehicle compatibility
enhanced for bidirectional feature when with relevant ISO
3.3kW charger is used. standards.
 The onboard charger needs to support
remote communication for enabling Role of EV Infrastructure
charging and discharging back to grid. OEM:
 In case of AC Type-2 charger, the charger (i) Monitoring of
also needs to be smart enough where it can chargers from a central
be controlled remotely through necessary control system.
protocol. (ii) Access of charging
 Existing battery management system data and sharing of data to
(BMS) of the EV to support the reverse utility for Load
flow and control the discharge whenever Forecasting and
necessary to avoid deep discharge. scheduling.
 As the Battery is going to support grid, the (iii) Already there are
design of the battery system and the around 10,000 plus charge
inverter shall support the necessary Short points installed across
circuit rating factor. India and it would reach
b. Fleet charger and Electric Bus charger: 30,000 plus by next FY.
Upgrading the charger to
 These are the locations where multiple
support V2G would be a
vehicles are charged ranging from 150 kW
costly affair. Needs
to MW range.
support from EV charger
 Here Chargers used are in the range of
OEM have a plug and play
150kW to 300kW capacity supporting the
solution to support V2G.
charging of bus with battery capacity
(iv) All EV OEM shall
ranging from 200kWh to 300kWh.
support by providing Mac-
 Targeting those location chargers would id or VIM number to track
yield more benefits for Peak load and monitor the EV
reduction and Peak shaving during participating for the V2G
charging and for other purposes like
c. Peak shaving and Peak load support pattern understanding etc.
applications: (v) Currently EV OEM
 When multiple vehicles are being charged offers a warranty support
at one locations, the chargers can be made for Battery for 8 years or 1

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in master Slave arrangement thereby in lakh km whichever is

case of any load reduction required to earlier. In case, the Battery
support grid, the controller can help in is used for Peak load
reducing the current and in turn reduce reduction purposes, it
drawing of power. should not affect the
 Similarly, when power is required the warranty support from EV
same can be done by having an effective OEM.
control over the BMS, State of charge and
Charger control. Tariff: Currently the
 The chargers installed over the EV bus batteries are being charged
depot are mostly complying to IEC 61851, by EV tariff. The incentive
ISO-15118, DIN 70121. mechanism to consumer in
(v) Currently CHAdeMO is one of the standard case of supporting to Grid
supporting V2G whereas the CCS 2 standard is shall be higher than the tariff
under development to support V2G and will be being offered to EV for
finalized by Next FY. charging. For example in
(vi) Recommendations: Small Sub group to be Roof top solar, the consumer
formed within the committee to deliberate the is giving back to Grid at the
details at micro level and form the necessary tariff of his household
guidelines on Requirements in Chargers, whereas the power
Protocols to be adopted, Recommendation of generation cost is lower than
EV OEM, Requirements from Utility stand the Grid tariff. In similar way
point of view and Incentive model etc. the compensation to be
managed.
BSES (i) Phased wise implementation: Cyber threat: V2G in
 Two wheeler and three wheeler commercial private space shall be
segments constitute a large percentage of EV concerns in cyber threat and
and lay idle during night time. This segment breach of privacy if the
utilizes battery swapping technology to fuel vehicle is directly controlled
up the EV and hence in preliminary stage from a remote system. Hence
Battery Swapping stations shall be utilized an additional charger /
during peak power period to support grid communication unit shall be
acting as a Distributed energy storage the integrator between
system. operator and EV use for
 Commercial Four wheeler electric fleet also control of energy exchange.
utilize the fast public charging station for
fuel up, DC fast chargers up gradation along
with BMS can also be focused for V2G in
India.
(ii) Challenges related to metering and grid
safety:
In practice, guidelines related to integration of
rooftop solar with grid, safety provisions and
net metering regulations can be adopted in
initial period to commence V2G in India.
IIT (i) Reactive power compensation in V2G mode (i) While ‘Battery
Bomba may be relevant. e.g., reactive power support to Swapping’ centres could be
y the grid (as opposed to peak power shaving) potential targets for V2G,
offers the benefit of grid stabilization while they could be limited to
having no harmful effect on battery life (as smaller 2W/ 3W batteries

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energy is not drawn from the battery since it can thus limiting the
be supplied by an adequately-sized dc-link effectiveness of V2G.
capacitor of the on-board charger).
(ii)The first priority is to establish standards and
interoperability. Generally, these are
international standards and we in India should
endeavour to participate in standard
development. The CEA/ GoI could nominate
some expert to the standard committee(s) who
would also liaison keep this group informed on
developments in IEC and IEEE.
(iii) The second step would be to implement V2G
on islands. This would involve drafting
necessary standards that can facilitate use of
V2G for emergency service along with existing
diesel generators (DG), where ever DGs are
used at present.
(iv) The next step would be to go in for for grid
integrated V2G. With metering infrastructure
and regulations for revenue for V2G services.
The services like frequency regulations etc., can
follow later.
(v) V2X (V2H;V2B etc.) technology may be
explored for feasibility of V2G.
IIT (i) Role of Aggregator in V2G may not be
Delhi neglected.
(ii) Standardization of communication protocols is
required for V2G.
(iii) V2G may be possible through V2H/V2B.
LOG9 (i) Operating Energy Arbitrage Reserves: (i) V2G implementation
Energy arbitrage involves buying electricity challenges related to no
when it's cheaper and storing it, then selling it control of a cab
back to the grid when the electricity prices are aggregator over the
higher. Electric Cab Aggregators / EV Fleet Battery Technology in the
Operators can use their idle EV batteries during e-car, Battery
nighttime to perform energy arbitrage. They can Management System
charge the EVs during periods of low electricity (BMS), non-availability/
demand and cheap electricity rates and enablement of
discharge them during peak hours when bidirectional charger
electricity prices are high. based feature in present
(ii) V2G technology is evolving, and real-world ecosystem shall be
implementation may face technical, regulatory, needed, this will also
and implementation challenges that could affect require change in the
revenue potential. It's essential to conduct a programming logics &
detailed feasibility study and collaborate with modifications in dock of
relevant stakeholders (like OEMs of Vehicle, the chargers and the car
Chargers and Distribution Utility) before dock port, programmable
implementing large-scale V2G operations. logics for smart charging
(iii) Implementing V2G indeed requires and discharging in
collaboration among multiple stakeholders and a synchronization with the

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comprehensive approach to address technical grid infrastructure.

and grid-related complexities. Here's a more (ii) Collaborating with
detailed analysis of the challenges and potential the government or
solutions: relevant authorities to
a. Battery Technology and BMS: offer incentives for
Challenge: As a cab aggregator, Electric Cab charging infrastructure
Aggregators / EV Fleet Operators may not have upgrades can accelerate
direct control over the battery technology and the adoption of
BMS of the electric vehicles in their fleet. bidirectional chargers.
Different EV models may have varying battery (iii) A collaborative and
chemistries and BMS capabilities, making it joint approach involving
challenging to standardize V2G operations EV manufacturers,
across the entire fleet. charging infrastructure
Potential Solution: Electric Cab Aggregators / providers, grid operators,
EV Fleet Operators can collaborate closely with utilities, and energy
EV manufacturers to ensure that future EV management experts will
models they add to their fleet are V2G-enabled. be essential to overcome
Engaging in discussions with manufacturers and the implementation
conveying the benefits of V2G may encourage challenges of a large-scale
them to develop EVs with bidirectional power V2G project for Electric
flow capabilities. Cab Aggregators / EV
b. Bidirectional Charger Availability: Fleet Operators. By
Challenge: The current charging infrastructure leveraging the expertise
may not support bidirectional charging, making of various stakeholders
it necessary to upgrade the chargers and the car and investing in
dock ports to enable V2G. innovative technologies
Potential Solution: Electric Cab Aggregators/ and solutions, Electric
EV Fleet Operators can work with charging Cab Aggregators / EV
infrastructure providers and grid operators to Fleet Operators can pave
invest in bidirectional chargers at their charging the way for a successful
stations. and sustainable V2G
c. Programmable Logics for Smart Charging ecosystem in India.
and Discharging: (iv) Necessary permits
Challenge: Developing programmable logics and approvals from
that enable smart charging and discharging in regulatory authorities to
sync with the grid infrastructure requires participate in energy
specialized expertise and software development. services markets and
Potential Solution: Electric Cab Aggregators/ provide grid support
EV Fleet Operators can partner with energy services.
management and software companies with
experience in developing smart charging
solutions. This partnership can help create an
Energy Management System (EMS) tailored to
their specific V2G needs, considering the grid
conditions and pricing data from the energy
exchange.
d. Understanding Local/Regional Grid
Infrastructure:
Challenge: The grid conditions and peak/off-
peak situations can vary at the local, regional,

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and national levels, (i.e. on an energy exchange

this might show peak pricing however in the
state or locally the grid might be at off-peak)
making it essential to understand the intricacies
of the grid infrastructure for effective V2G
operations.
Potential Solution: Electric Cab Aggregators /
EV Fleet Operators can collaborate with local
grid operators and utilities to gain insights into
the regional grid's dynamics. This collaboration
will help them schedule V2G activities
intelligently, avoiding congestions and
maximizing the grid's benefits.
e. Net Smart Metering for Energy
Accounting:
Challenge: Accurate energy accounting is
crucial for V2G operations, and implementing
net smart metering for bidirectional power flow
can be complex.
Potential Solution: Electric Cab Aggregators/
EV Fleet Operators can collaborate with utilities
and regulators to establish net smart metering
protocols specifically for V2G operations. This
ensures transparent and accurate accounting of
energy injected into or withdrawn from the grid.
f. Partnership with Vertically Integrated
Battery Technology Company:
Challenge: Developing an Energy Management
System and modeling energy exchange pricing
require expertise and a deep understanding of
battery technologies and grid operations.
Potential Solution: Electric Cab Aggregators /
EV Fleet Operators can seek partnerships or
consult with vertically integrated battery
technology companies with expertise in energy
modeling, energy exchange markets, and EMS
development. These partnerships will bolster
their capabilities in managing V2G operations
efficiently.
(iv) The drivers operating the electric vehicles
are essential stakeholders. They need to be
trained in V2G technology, understand
charging/discharging protocols, and collaborate
with Electric Cab Aggregators / EV Fleet
Operators to ensure the smooth operation of the
EVs while optimizing their use for both ride-
hailing and grid services.
(v) Although As per the Green Open Access
Rules 2022 notified dated, 6th June, 2022states
that the Green Open Access is allowed to any

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consumer and the limit of Open Access

Transaction has been reduced from 1 MW to
100 kW for green energy, to enable small
consumers also to purchase renewable power
through open access. State needs to float the
standard operation procedures (SoP’s) for
implementation. The regulation has to further
amended for backward injection of power from
multiple DER’s / EV’s in this case and
cumulative addition for calculating total injected
power at grid level, policy, regulations are in
complete abeyance for such nuances.
(vi) Insurance Companies: Insurance
companies provide coverage for the EV fleet
and related operations, including potential
liabilities related to V2G activities.
(vii) Financial Institutions and
Investors: Banks and investors that have
provided funding or invested in Electric Cab
Aggregators / EV Fleet Operators have a
financial interest in the company's success and
its ability to generate revenue through
innovative V2G services.
(viii) CCS 2 (Combined Charging
System 2): Electric Cab Aggregators / EV Fleet
Operators’ electric vehicles use the CCS 2
standard connector for charging. The CCS 2
connector allows for both AC & DC charging
and supports bidirectional power flow, enabling
V2G capabilities. However, this has to be
enabled by necessary modification in the
circuitry.
(ix) Bharat DC 001 or GB/T Provisions:
Electric Cab Aggregators / EV Fleet Operators
to ensure that their EV models comply with the
required Bharat Charger DC001, GB/T
provisions for V2G. This involves coordinating
with EV manufacturers to ensure the vehicles
are equipped with the necessary components and
communication protocols for bidirectional
power flow.
(x) To assess the impact of V2G operations at
scale, Electric Cab Aggregators / EV Fleet
Operators to conduct simulations and pilot tests.
(xi) Recommendations:
a. Implement robust battery management
strategies to ensure battery health and
longevity during V2G operations.
b. Establish effective communication and
collaboration with the grid operator to

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facilitate seamless grid integration.

c. Comply with relevant regulatory
requirements and work closely with
authorities to create a conducive environment
for V2G operations.
d. Design incentive programs to motivate
Electric Cab Aggregators / EV Fleet
Operators’ / other cab aggregator in
coordination with Govt. to actively
participate in V2G, thereby creating a
successful distributed environment for V2G
services.

8. Recommendations for Implementation of V2G:

Electric mobility is an unprecedented opportunity to grow the share of VRE in the power system.
EV charging can be coordinated with variable renewable energy generation to harness the
potential benefits of managed charging, so as to promote smart-readiness of ecosystems through
minimum communication and control requirements. The main strategy may be to maximize the
amount of managed (or controlled/smart) charging, instead of unmanaged (or uncontrolled)
charging. The cost-effective charging solutions that help to accelerate the shift to electric mobility
may be facilitated. In order to unlock the technology and business models necessary to provide
flexibility, the following are recommended:

 Standardization and interoperability among EV charging ecosystem

 Bidirectional charging system with standard and open source protocols
 Changes to be made in various Indian Standards pertaining to V2G
 The charging and discharging should be controllable via central monitoring system for
providing synergies between mobility and the grid
 Design smart charging strategy to fit the power mix
 Complement grid charging with storage at charging points or battery swapping
 Advance integrated planning of power and transport sectors to avoid network congestion
 Build charging hubs in optimal locations to facilitate bi-directional flow between mobility
and the grid
 Augmentation of EVs charging facility at workplaces as the vehicle is parked idle for
around 5 to 6 hours.
 Facilitating advanced metering infrastructure establishments
 It is also important to note that although both V2H and V2G provide power flow from the
EVs but they have differences in their underlying technology. The key difference between
V2G and V2H is the type of inverter used by each system. As V2G runs parallel with
generators, the inverters in the charging system may be ‘Current Source’ based which
follows the voltage and frequency determined by the grid (grid following inverters)
whereas V2H isolates the local network from the grid, so inverters may be ‘Voltage
Source’ based that generates its own voltage and frequency command (grid forming
inverters).
 OEMs may explore the capabilities of V2G-enabled EVs in executing the reactive power
compensation, leaving the EV batteries charged and at the same time does not expose
them to additional discharging–charging cycles.

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 There should be a policy direction for sharing the controls between the various service
providers for optimal utilization of charging infrastructure and to avoid any type of
network congestion
 Amendment in “Guidelines and Standards for Charging Infrastructure for Electric
Vehicles” in released by MoP where it is mentioned that EV charging operations to be
considered as a service and not as sale of electricity.
 Enable revenue stacking for EVs in different markets through optimal tariff design
 Incentives for easy adoption by EV owners
 Globally, there exists technology for V2G however, the commercial implementation of
the same is undergoing via case-to-case pilot studies. Therefore, it is suggested that pilot
studies are also conducted in India for assessing the practical implications of the V2G
technology.

Based on the above recommendations, the following may be incorporated in the CEA (Technical
Standards for Connectivity to the Grid) Regulations.

(i) Suitable provisions for reactive power compensation for bi-directional charging
infrastructure.
(ii) Standardization and interoperability among EV charging ecosystem as per the latest
standards which shall be based on the open source protocol.
(iii) The charging and discharging shall be controllable via central monitoring system for
providing synergies between mobility and the grid with the advanced metering
infrastructure along with measures for congestion management in the grid.

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Bibliography

1. Government of India, Handbook of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

Implementation.
2. Government of India (2021), International Review on Integration of Electric Vehicles
Charging Infrastructure with Distribution Grid.
3. IEA, Grid Integration of Electric Vehicles: A manual for policy makers, International
Energy Agency
4. IRENA (2019), Innovation landscape brief: Electric-vehicle smart charging, International
Renewable Energy Agency, Abu Dhabi.
5. IRENA (2019), Innovation outlook: Smart charging for electric vehicles, International
Renewable Energy Agency, Abu Dhabi.
6. Ravi, S.S.; Aziz, M. Utilization of Electric Vehicles for Vehicle-to-Grid Services:
Progress and Perspectives. Energies 2022, 15, 589.
7. G. Buja, M. Bertoluzzo and C. Fontana, "Reactive Power Compensation Capabilities of
V2G-Enabled Electric Vehicles," in IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 32, no.
12, pp. 9447-9459, Dec. 2017.

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