SZ to lead V2G integration as national pilot city

Shenzhen has been selected as one of China’s first batch of nine cities to pilot the large-scale application of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) integration, according to an announcement posted on the official website of the National Development and Reform Commission yesterday.

V2G technology enables the transfer of unused power from electric vehicles to the smart grid. Also known as vehicle-grid integration (VGI), this technology can bolster the energy grid during peak hours and serve as an alternative power source when weather-dependent renewable energy is unavailable.

For instance, a home relying on solar power cannot generate electricity at night, but an electric vehicle can provide a secondary source of power if needed. In this way, electric vehicles can function as mobile energy storage devices to help meet peak load demands.

The city hosted China’s largest-scale V2G technology test last Friday, in which more than 17,000 NEVs and 760 charging stations across the city participated. Electric vehicle owners were incentivized to send excess electricity from their cars back to the grid, earning 4 yuan (US$0.55) per kWh. Given that off-peak charging costs only 0.4 yuan per kWh, this results in a profit of 3.6 yuan per kWh.

As the largest V2G demonstration station in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the supercharging station at Lianhua Hill Park created a national single-day record for the highest daily power output, reaching over 13,000 kWh.

The supercharging station at Bijia Hill Park. Xinhua

The station is currently equipped with 22 V2G charging piles and 36 V2G charging guns. It can support a maximum V2G discharging power of 2,160 kilowatts and can meet the charging and discharging needs of 46 vehicles simultaneously.

The ultra-fast charging piles, with a maximum charging and discharging power of 600 kilowatts per pile, have a discharging speed that is 10 to 20 times faster than that of ordinary piles, making it the fastest in the country.

In 2024, Shenzhen constructed 1,030 ultra-fast charging stations and added 134,000 new charging piles, bringing the total number of charging piles to 420,000.

As the first city in China where the number of ultra-fast charging stations and charging guns surpassed that of gas stations and fueling guns — with the former being twice the number of the latter — Shenzhen has established a “1-kilometer charging circle” in urban areas, making charging highly convenient.