Energy

Gogoro's battery swap GoStations help with power grid stability

View 3 Images
By the middle of 2023, more than 2,500 battery swapping GoStations will have joined a Virtual Power Plant to help Taiwan's power grid cope with peak demand, as well as balance intermittent supplies from renewable sources
Gogoro
By the middle of 2023, more than 2,500 battery swapping GoStations will have joined a Virtual Power Plant to help Taiwan's power grid cope with peak demand, as well as balance intermittent supplies from renewable sources
Gogoro
Gogoro's network of GoStations cater to riders of its electric smartscooters, allowing them to swap low-charge batteries for fresh ones
Gogoro
A pilot in 2022 successfully demonstrated that the GoStations could operate as part of a Virtual Power Plant without adversely affecting their function as battery swapping hubs for smartscooter riders
Gogoro
View gallery - 3 images

Back in 2015, Gogoro proposed setting up a network of battery-swapping stations so that riders of its electric smartscooter no longer had to worry about per-charge range. Now the company operates thousands of them, and has partnered with Enel X to have the network serve as virtual power plants in Taiwan.

"We are entering a new era of smart energy infrastructure, and by integrating the Gogoro Network with the Enel X Virtual Power Plant (VPP) in Taiwan we are providing a new energy resource," said founder and CEO of Gogoro, Horace Luke. "It is the first time this technology has been deployed this way in the world, and it creates a new Gogoro revenue stream beyond mobility."

The basic idea is to have Gogoro's battery hubs dynamically pause the charging of their docked batteries and feed stored energy back to the power grid when demand is high or an imbalance is detected. Once the grid levels out again, a signal is sent out to the Gogoro Network and charging recommences.

Gogoro and Enel X ran a pilot last year to test the setup, and found that the network of battery swapping stations involved in the trial successfully "performed these services without causing any interruptions to Gogoro Network battery swapping customers, demonstrating that the network is an ideal resource to support Taiwan’s energy transition."

A pilot in 2022 successfully demonstrated that the GoStations could operate as part of a Virtual Power Plant without adversely affecting their function as battery swapping hubs for smartscooter riders
Gogoro

Now the partnership has announced the commercial deployment of almost 1,300 GoStations as part of Enel X's VPP, in more than 500 locations throughout Taiwan. By mid-2023, that number will rise above 2,500 across 1,000 locations, though how this translates into potential combined capacity hasn't been revealed.

Enel X currently operates the largest Virtual Power Plant in Taiwan, and sees setups like this as being a vital resource to "help balance the intermittency of large-scale renewable power stations" as the country moves to decarbonize its energy generation.

Indeed, the Taiwan Power Corporation predicts that the energy sharing economy will be worth tens of billions of New Taiwan Dollars, and is calling on more businesses to participate it its Energy Trading Platform "through professional aggregators like Enel X" and "work together towards Taiwan’s renewable energy future."

While Taiwan is home to the vast majority of GoStations, Gogoro does operate networks in several other countries, where the VPP model could be replicated – though Gogoro hasn't revealed any plans for global expansion of the project as yet.

Source: Gogoro

View gallery - 3 images
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Flipboard
  • LinkedIn
3 comments
rgbatduke
I hope that they DO succeed. I think there is pushback on their expansion into the US markets, even though it IS a good idea in many ways and avoids the problem with mismatched chargers starting scooter battery fires that has apparently gotten way out of hand in e.g. NYC.
Aross
This should be the method and standard for all electric vehicles.
ljaques
Didn't China try the quick-replace battery thing and end up with thousands of fires due to loose connectors after numerous plugins & removals? (Yes, NIO in 2019.)