Vehicle-to-Grid Technology Saves $950 in 4 Months

A collaboration between Fermata Energy, The Alliance Center, and Colorado CarShare has resulted in over $950 in savings on its electricity bills in just four months using one Fermata Energy 15kW bidirectional charger and one Nissan LEAF, according to the company's press announcement. 

The savings were generated by reducing the Center's demand charges by nearly 8%. At this rate, the annual economic gain at this location is projected to be over $3,000 just through demand charge management. 

In spring 2021, The Alliance Center installed Fermata Energy's V2X vehicle charging system at its building in Denver's Lower Downtown (LoDo) neighborhood to connect EVs, grid electrification, and smart building technologies to bcombat climate change. It became fully operational in June 2021, and it has been generating savings for the nonprofit since.

"The partnership between Fermata Energy, The Alliance Center, and Colorado CarShare is critical to demonstrating the full potential of an electric vehicle," said David Slutzky, Fermata Energy co-founder and CEO. "In just four months of use, the V2B project saved The Alliance Center $950 in electricity costs in addition to reducing fossil-fuel consumption and CO2 emissions from mobile sources through its carshare program. To put that in perspective, the average monthly savings of about $237 covers the entirety of the LEAF's monthly payment, while at the same time offsetting operating expenses of the vehicles the carshare program has displaced."

Colorado CarShare strengthened the partnership and the earnings of the LEAF by combining a publicly available carsharing program with the V2X capabilities to enhance the output while providing a shared public mobility service.

The electric vehicle at The Alliance Center is connected to Fermata Energy's V2X system consisting of its UL-certified FE-15 bidirectional EV charger and proprietary V2X management software.

With the FE-15 tied into the building's electrical system, Fermata Energy's software monitors the facility's power consumption, looking for opportunities to manage expensive high-demand periods by using energy from the EV battery rather than electricity from the grid.

Demand charges are a feature of commercial electric bills. In the instance of The Alliance Center, an all-electric building, the highest single 15-minute period of energy consumption during a calendar month represents on average 60% of the facility's entire monthly utility bill. 

Once installed, Fermata Energy's V2B system uses data points from a building, car, and charger to evaluate and predict when the building will experience peak power use. It then optimizes the dispatch of stored energy from the vehicle into the building, thus reducing building energy costs. The system at The Alliance Center has reduced demand by about eight percent, for a 4.5% reduction in the overall electricity bill.

Colorado CarShare continued to add value as the ride-sharing company used Fermata Energy's charging infrastructure to charge their LEAF while providing power to The Alliance Center while parked.

"We are very excited to see the initial results of our electrified carshare V2X partnership with The Alliance Center and Fermata Energy," said Peter Krahenbuhl, Colorado CarShare's CEO. "We already take cars off of the road and carbon emissions out of the air through our EV carshare service as a part of our mission. The fact that we can add to that by providing additional clean energy directly to a building is incredible."

Originally posted on Automotive Fleet