State Grid Changzhou Power Supply Company Organizes Large-Scale Vehicle-to-Grid Discharging Activity

From August 28 to 30, State Grid Changzhou Power Supply Company, in collaboration with Changzhou Municipal Development and Reform Commission, organized a large-scale Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) discharging activity. Covering 27 charging and battery-swapping stations across the city—including public charging/battery-swapping stations, dedicated bus stations, in-house stations of enterprises and public institutions, and 5 private residential charging piles—the activity achieved a total reverse discharge capacity of over 10,000 kWh. This effectively verified the V2G regulation capability across various scenarios, marking a crucial step toward the large-scale, regularized, and market-oriented application of V2G in Changzhou.

V2G, short for “Vehicle-to-Grid”, enables electric vehicles (EVs) to function as “mobile power banks”: EVs charge from the grid during off-peak electricity consumption hours and feed electricity back to the grid during peak hours. This not only allows EV owners to earn profits but also helps the grid “cut peaks and fill valleys” (reduce load during peaks and supplement supply during off-peak periods).

Li Min, Director of the Marketing Department of State Grid Changzhou Power Supply Company, stated that recent high-temperature weather has kept grid load at a persistently high level, with Changzhou’s grid load hitting a record high seven times. The three-day discharging activity was scheduled during the evening peak electricity consumption hours, from 19:30 to 21:30. “V2G not only supports peak-load power supply and enhances grid resilience but also enables new energy vehicle owners to participate in reducing carbon emissions and boosting green development for Changzhou—the ‘New Energy Capital’,” Li Min said.

The activity brought tangible benefits to EV owners. When owners feed surplus electricity back to the grid, they receive a subsidy of 4 yuan per kWh. Since charging during off-peak hours costs less than 0.4 yuan per kWh, owners can earn a net profit of approximately 3.6 yuan per kWh discharged. “The discharging process is similar to charging. I plugged in my car for an hour and earned about 50 yuan,” said Mr. Tian, a resident who tried the service at Wuxing Smart Charging Station in Changzhou’s Zhonglou District. This station also became the first public charging station in the activity to exceed 100 kWh of daily discharge, with a single-day discharge volume of over 170 kWh.

Statistics show that the activity attracted a total of 250 participants and distributed more than 40,000 yuan in subsidies. Going forward, Changzhou will continue to build a V2G ecosystem with broad participation and win-win outcomes for all parties, accelerating the large-scale, regularized, and market-oriented application of V2G. (By Fan Lei, Xu Duo)