Accordingly, owners of EVs featuring batteries with a capacity under 10kW will be billed on their net usage of electricity, with the amount of electricity resent to the grid deducted from the total electricity received from KEPCO. (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 13 (Korea Bizwire) – In the near future, it will be possible to resell electricity stored in an electric vehicle’s battery to the grid. As EV users can charge their vehicles at a lower cost at night, they can make money by reselling the stored electricity at a higher cost during the day.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that it had revised the “Guideline for Trading Electricity Generated by Renewable Energy” on March 12, and prepared a trading system for charged electricity based on the notion that EVs can function as power generation sources by using the electricity stored in their batteries.
Accordingly, owners of EVs featuring batteries with a capacity under 10kW will be billed on their net usage of electricity, with the amount of electricity resent to the grid deducted from the total electricity received from KEPCO.
However, to resell the power stored in EV batteries, the development of related technology such as rechargeable batteries, two-way charging systems and a V2G (Vehicle to Grid) standard will be required.
Currently, the ministry is developing the related technology together with KEPCO, Hyundai-Kia Motors, Seoul National University and the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology by setting up a V2G testbed.
Meanwhile, the ministry began implementing an Energy Storage System (ESS) tailored billing system, in which KEPCO offers a 10 percent discount when the ESS is charged between 11pm and 9am. In addition, the ministry has allowed electricity generated from gas produced as a by-product at steel mills to be traded in the over-the-counter market, not the official utility market.
By John Choi (johnchoi@koreabizwire.com)
