Authorities in the U.K. are concerned the country’s power grid could be in trouble if Nissan goes forward with a scheme allowing electric vehicle (EV) owners to sell electricity back to the country’s grid.
European countries such as Britain, Netherlands, Norway, and France are going all out in an effort to get car markets to produce and sell more electric vehicles. The U.K. is now incentivizing EV consumption by giving Nissan permission to create a program allowing customers to shovel excess electricity back onto the country’s energy system operator, National Grid.
The Japanese automaker said Tuesday it planned a trial run with mega-power company Enel to install 100 vehicle-to-grid units for private and business customers.
The decision is likely to ratchet up strain on a grid already battered by closed coal power plants. British authorities have made a commitment to shutter all coal power plants within the next decade in order to comply with environmental regulations. The move has severely hampered the grid’s generating capacity.
Shutting down the country’s remaining coal plants will jettison a massive amount of electricity off the grid, and will mean almost 35 percent of Britain’s electricity will need to be replaced through some other source.
Those tasked with operating the grid warn the sell back scheme could place undue stress on the grid if proper precautions are not made to secure it.
“It’s our job to future proof the national transmission network,” National Grid Non-Executive Director and former CEO Steve Holliday told Reuters. “The rapid uptake of electric vehicles is certainly positive yet could also be challenging if we don’t plan ahead.”
About 3 percent of vehicles sold in Britain in 2015 were plug-in hybrids and electric cars. That number has ticked up by magnitudes this year, as EV and hybrid vehicle sales have risen 24 percent.
Nissan Europe said EV customers could use excess energy to power their cars or make a little money by selling it back to the grid during peak time.
“The value to the consumer is they can draw energy off-peak, so during the night,” chairman of Nissan Europe Paul Willcox told Reuters.
Follow Chris on Facebook and Twitter
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.