Renewables are the fastest-growing form of power generation. Moreover, they are the only source of power keeping pace with the expanding demand for electricity as we adopt electric vehicles (EVs) and all-electric buildings. The disconnect that the experts worry about falls on the grid due to the wild fluctuations between supply and demand. Despite ongoing repairs and upgrades, there has been virtually no grid expansion of capacity over the past decades. Change is coming rapidly, however.
Technology is transforming the large batteries in EVs, trucks, and buses into versatile assets. These components are beginning to store excess renewable electricity and make it available for demand spikes. Millions of EVs can be thought of as a huge energy system that can be connected to another huge energy system, the electrical grid. There has been talk about this for years, but we are now seeing tangible results.
In part because of the war in Ukraine and the resulting boycott of natural gas from Russia, Europe is moving rapidly to create microgrids that combine renewable generation with large battery storage and bidirectional flows for large numbers of EVs. Utrecht in the Netherlands is considered the largest bidirectional city. One of their projects is a parking facility, covered by 2,100 solar panels that provide power to 450 bidirectional charging stations and next-door buildings. The city is planning for 10,000 bidirectional EVs, 10 percent of their total.