Taiwanese two-wheeler battery swapping firm Gogoro has a plan to present vitality again to Taiwan’s electrical grid and make cash whereas doing it.
The corporate is partnering with Enel X, an vitality providers supplier, to combine 2,500 of its GoStations in Taiwan into Enel X’s Digital Energy Plant (VPP).
A VPP is a set of small-scale vitality sources which have been joined collectively and coordinated with grid operations with a view to present the grid with dependable and reasonably priced sources of vitality.
On this case, Enel X is offering energy again to Taiwan Energy Firm, Taiwan’s public electrical utility. The state is supporting Enel X’s VPP as it really works to succeed in net-zero emissions in 2050. A method Taiwan hopes to implement its vitality transition is thru bettering vitality system resilience.
“We’re getting into a brand new period of sensible vitality infrastructure, and by integrating the Gogoro Community with the Enel X Digital Energy Plant (VPP) in Taiwan we’re offering a brand new vitality useful resource,” mentioned Horace Luke, Gogoro’s CEO and founder, in an announcement. “It’s the first time this expertise has been deployed this fashion on the planet, and it creates a brand new Gogoro income stream past mobility.”
Gogoro’s stations collectively maintain almost 12 gigawatt hours, in accordance with Jason Gordon, Gogoro’s VP of communications.
Picture Credit: Gogoro
The formal partnership is an extension of a pilot that was accomplished in 2022, through which Gogoro built-in 10 of its GoStations into Enel X’s VPP. Gogoro mentioned the pilot demonstrated that the corporate’s community may safely pause charging throughout a grid imbalance or present vitality again to the grid as required with out inflicting any interruptions to battery swapping clients.
This month, the businesses have transformed almost 1,300 GoStations throughout greater than 500 places into VPP nodes by attaching a chunk of {hardware} from Enel X that connects Gogoro’s community with Enel’s grid administration software program. The plan is to get to 2,500 GoStations throughout 1,000 places by mid-year.
Being part of Enel X’s VPP not solely helps guarantee a extra secure grid, however it additionally supplies Gogoro with a brand new income stream exterior of mobility. Enel X both pays Gogoro outright or offers the corporate reductions for vitality it sells again to the community, in addition to when Gogoro pauses vitality at its stations, in accordance with Gordon.