Project XL-Connect brings together 24 partners from 10 different countries and has as its main research focus the optimization of electric charging - a real challenge for the European energy system, taking into account that, by 2030, the European Union (EU) aims to reach 30 million electric vehicles (EVs).
This challenge is also an opportunity for the use of technologies such as V1G (intelligent vehicle charging), V2G (Vehicle to Grid) and V2X (Vehicle to Everything).
V1G enables the optimization of EV charging by allowing dynamic control of its power and duration; V2G goes a step further and allows charged energy to be sent back to the grid from an EV's battery in order to balance variations in energy production and consumption.
V2X, on the other hand, which stands for Vehicle to Everything, allows for many different use cases, depending on the use that the consumer wishes to put the vehicle's battery to (for example, Vehicle to Home - V2H or Vehicle to Building - V2B).
The overall goal of the XL-Connect project is the optimization of the entire EV charging chain - from the energy supply to the end user - creating benefits for all stakeholders. To this end, a charging-on-demand solution will be developed, based on an optimized charging network considering human, technical and economic factors.
E-REDES, as a partner in the consortium led by Virtual Vehicle Research, is coordinating a work package focused on the integration of user needs in the system operation and three tasks related to the implications of electric mobility for the system and the integration of smart charging in the electric grid. .
In addition, E-REDES participates in a wide range of other transversal tasks and will develop a demonstration of project results in Portugal, focusing on interoperability between grid and EV charging platforms, in 3 Portuguese cities, including the Company's own facilities. A pilot that aims to validate the developed smart charging concepts and explore new usage patterns of EVs at individual (e.g. commuting to work) and company level (e.g. EVs used for maintenance and operations).
The demonstration will also extend the use of the UMEI concept, introduced in the EUniversal H2020 project led by E-REDES, to the communication between system operators and the entities/devices involved in smart charging, allowing the development of flexibility services through the use of smart charging mechanisms (V2G, V1G and V2X), as well as the necessary two-way data exchange.
XL-Connect, with funding of more than €8 million, will run from January 2023 to June 2026.
