The energy transition in Belgium brings with it a growing challenge: how do we ensure that electricity supply and demand are perfectly matched? Renewable energy is great, but solar and wind are not constant. This means we have surpluses at peak times and just shortages at other times.

Today, large infrastructure projects and expensive flexibility mechanisms are mostly looked at to solve this problem. But there is a much smarter, faster and cheaper solution that we are almost completely ignoring: the electric car.

How much flexibility do electric cars really have to offer?

Belgium now has more than 300,000 electric cars, and that number is growing rapidly. What many don’t know is that electric vehicles can serve perfectly for grid balancing solutions.

• About 300,000 electric cars together can continuously provide 300 megawatts of interruptible flexibility. This means that together they can turn off or inject as much power as a gas power plant.
  
• We can charge the entire fleet of electric cars based on Belpex prices so that they are charged at the moments of lowest price or of oversupply of electricity, which benefits balancing. If this potential is fully exploited, we can meet a huge part of our grid balancing needs without expensive infrastructure works.
  
• Bi-directional discharge creates a huge virtual battery that stores energy during off-peak hours and discharges it during peak hours.

Bidirectional charging: the sleeping giant of our power grid

Many electric cars today are already capable of bi-directional charging (V2G or Vehicle-to-Grid). This means they can not only draw power, but also feed it back into the grid when needed. The technology is already there, we just don’t use it.

Which cars can already do this?

• Nissan Leaf and e-NV200 – compatible with two-way charging for years.
• Hyundai Ioniq 5 & 6, Kia EV6 and EV9- support Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) and soon possibly V2G.
• Volkswagen ID. models – technically ready, but waiting for activation via software updates.
• Tesla (possibly in the future) – Tesla is already testing two-way charging and could soon activate this feature.
• BMW Neue Klasse
• Polestar 3 and 4 as well as the Volvo EX90
• BYD, Xpeng and other new players – many Chinese brands are already betting heavily on this.

This means that thousands of Belgian EVs are already ready to return power to the grid today. But because there is no clear cooperation between the automotive sector, grid operators and charging infrastructure players, this potential remains largely untapped.

Why do we insist on expensive solutions?

Instead of spending billions on complex infrastructure, we can invest a fraction of that budget in three targeted actions:

1. Enable bi-directional charging in existing EVs. Work with carmakers to enable this functionality via software updates.
2. Invest in bi-directional charging stations. This technology is already there, but rollout lags.
3. Use smart software to manage EV flexibility. Belgian companies such as STROOHM have already proven that this is perfectly possible.

This is not only a technological solution, but also an economic opportunity. By further pioneering smart charging infrastructure, Belgium can export its expertise worldwide. This creates jobs and makes our country an innovation hub in the energy transition.

Elia plans to double net tariffs, in part to buy expensive flexibility. This is absurd because there are cheaper alternatives that we don’t use. If we strategically deploy electric cars, we can reduce peak consumption and use energy smarter, without incurring additional costs for households and businesses.

My appeal is clear:

• Policymakers and grid operators: Work with the automotive industry and charging station installers to accelerate adoption of bi-directional charging.
• Automotive Brands: Activate the two-way functionality of existing EVs and give users access to this technology.
• Businesses and citizens: Choose bi-directional charging solutions and be part of the energy transition.

The future of grid balancing is not in expensive infrastructure, but in our parking lots and driveways. We have the technology, the capacity and the expertise. Now is the time to put them to use.

The future is electric. The future is now.

Bart Massin

CEO STROOHM