The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced $4 million in funding to JET Charge to deliver Australia's largest commercial deployment of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, helping unlock the potential of electric vehicles to support the electricity grid while providing transport services.
The project, Realising Electric Vehicle-to-Grid Services 2 (REVS2), will see up to 130 electric vehicles and bidirectional chargers deployed across the ACT Government fleet.
REVS2 builds on Australia's first vehicle-to-grid trial, funded by ARENA in 2020. While that project showed electric vehicles could safely export electricity back to the grid, REVS2 will test the benefits of the technology in the everyday operations of a large commercial fleet.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said the project marks an important step in moving vehicle-to-grid technology from successful trials to widespread adoption.
"Electric vehicles have the potential to do much more than just move people and goods from A to B. They can also help support Australia's electricity system by storing renewable energy and supplying it back to the grid when demand is high," Mr Miller said.
"This project builds on the success of Australia's first vehicle-to-grid trial by tackling a key missing piece for bidirectional charging in Australia: how large fleets can be incentivised to support the grid while still meeting their day-to-day transport needs."
"It will provide real-world evidence on how fleets can be rewarded to use their electric vehicles to support the grid, helping make the switch to electric vehicles more attractive for fleet operators."
REVS2 forms part of ARENA's broader efforts to accelerate bidirectional charging in Australia, including funding the national Bidirectional Charging Roadmap in 2025.
"We know vehicle-to-grid technology works - we helped show that in the original REVS project," JET Charge CEO Tim Washington said.
"Now we need to prove it makes commercial sense. If we can help fleets reduce their operating costs by supporting the grid, that's a business case any CEO can get behind. For JET Charge, it's about speeding up the EV transition, and REVS2 can bring those benefits to many more Australian businesses."
Minister for Climate Change, Environment, Energy and Water, Suzanne Orr, said the ACT Government is leading the way for local business and industry by showcasing how electric fleets can operate at a large scale.
"Building on the success of the first Realising Electric Vehicle-to-Grid Services project, where a number of ACT Government fleet vehicles successfully fed power back into the grid during an outage in February 2024, Realising Electric Vehicle-to-Grid Services 2 will take our testing to the next level by demonstrating how a fleet of EVs can be used to support the grid during times of high demand, helping reduce operational costs and increasing reliability," Minister Orr said.
"The ACT Government is proud to be supporting vehicle-to-grid uptake and engaging the community on the benefits of smart charging and vehicle-to-grid technology which can help balance electricity demand and support reducing energy costs for businesses and residents.
"The ACT is leading the nation in electric vehicle adoption - with over 40% of all newly registered vehicles in the ACT being zero-emissions battery electric vehicles so far this financial year."
Today's announcement also coincides with Australia's first Open Charge Alliance Plugfest event in Canberra, bringing together charger manufacturers, charge station management system (CSMS) providers, software developers and energy companies to test interoperability between charging infrastructure, energy management platforms and grid integration systems.
Supported by the ARENA-funded Vehicle-Grid Network project, the event is helping build the interoperability, cybersecurity capability and industry readiness needed to accelerate bidirectional and unidirectional charging and vehicle-grid integration in Australia.
Learn more about ARENA's role in accelerating the uptake of the vehicle-to-everything in Australia on our website.
