GridPoint Acquires V2Green
GridPoint Inc., of Arlington, Va., has acquired V2Green, a Seattle company that provides plug-in electric vehicle grid integration technology -- including on-board vehicle communication devices -- to enable utilities to "smart charge" electric vehicles anywhere within a service territory.
According to a Sept. 23 press release, this is the first step in GridPoint's acquisition strategy, which has been fueled by a recent $120 million equity financing.
"V2Green is a leading innovator in plug-in electric vehicle management and has been instrumental in defining standards for interfacing electric vehicles with the power grid," said Peter L. Corsell, president and chief executive officer, GridPoint. "V2Green's best-in-breed software for electric vehicle management enhances our software platform and its corresponding benefits to utilities."
GridPoint's platform applies information technology to the electric grid to provide utilities with an intelligent network of distributed energy resources that controls load, stores energy, and produces power. The platform offers utilities a single interface, located in a utility's control room, for managing a variety of distributed energy assets including plug-in electric vehicles, solar panels, wind turbines, advanced storage technologies, and household devices such as thermostats, electric water heaters, pool pumps, etc.
"GM's recent announcement on the availability of the Chevy Volt marks the beginning of a wave of plug-in electric vehicles to come," said David Kaplan, chair and chief technology officer. "GridPoint clearly understands how to provide electric utilities with an infrastructure that prepares the grid for their arrival."
Plug-in electric vehicle management is essential to meeting a surge in demand for these vehicles, while at the same time alleviating stress on the grid. It will also allow utilities to optimize generation resources to reduce consumer costs and minimize the environmental impact of charging the millions of electric vehicles that are expected to come online in the years ahead. An Oak Ridge National Laboratory study found that 160 new power plants would be needed to handle additional load if all electric vehicles were plugged in at 5 p.m., however, if charging times were shifted to off-peak hours -- known as smart charging -- only zero to eight new power plants would be required.
"We have a great deal of synergy with GridPoint including our software-based approach to modernizing the grid," said John Clark, president and chief executive officer, V2Green. "Our combined capabilities will enable utilities to mitigate the impact of plug-in electric vehicles on the grid while reducing carbon emissions and providing their customers with reduced rates for off-peak charging."