Blog of RENAULT NISSAN Alliance

Nissan Motor Corporation has begun testing a system to use electric vehicle technology to help power grids cope with peaks in demand. The energy management system has the potential to help ensure continuity of supply during natural disasters. It could also make electricity from renewable sources, like the wind or sun, more viable by storing power to be used during periods of high demand. Nissan is using Nissan LEAF electric vehicles (EV) and the "LEAF to Home" power supply system in the field tests.

The tests are being conducted by ENERES Co., Ltd.. Nissan is using Nissan LEAF EVs paired with the LEAF to Home power supply system for demand response testing at several of its sales outlets run by subsidiary Kanagawa Nissan Co., Ltd. to assess the effectiveness of EV batteries when used for energy management.

Demand response is a strategy to make power grids more efficient by modifying consumers' power consumption in consideration of available energy supply. Since the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011 the supply and demand of electricity during peak use hours in Japan has drawn attention. Under the demand response scheme, power companies request aggregators to use energy conservation measures, and they are compensated for the electricity that they save.

Read more from the press release here.