Essential Energy's Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) initiative has been recognised for driving sector-wide innovation and delivering real customer benefits, winning the Industry Innovation category at the 2025 Energy Networks Australia (ENA) Awards, held September 11 in Melbourne.
Developed in partnership with Australia's national science agency CSIRO, Sigenergy and AUSEV, the launch of Australia's first market-ready V2G solution is enabling customers to use their electric vehicles (EVs) as flexible energy assets.
The project represents a major milestone in Australia's energy transition, delivering the first Combined Charging System 2 (CCS2) V2G solution available to all customers on the Essential Energy network. Tested at Essential Energy's Innovation Hub in Port Macquarie, the technology will enable customers to use their EVs to power their homes, support the grid and potentially export energy back into the market.
Brad Thomas, General Manager Asset Management and Engineering explains that by turning EVs into dynamic energy resources, the initiative delivers real value to households, supports grid stability, and helps accelerate the clean energy transition.
"V2G will give customers more control over their energy use and unlock new value from their investments. We're proud to be leading the way in making V2G a practical, scalable solution for customers across regional, rural and remote New South Wales," Brad said.
Building on this success, the next phase will focus on making the technology easier for customers to use and expanding its benefits. Essential Energy and CSIRO have extended their partnership for an additional five years and will look to broaden the laboratory's capabilities, explore deployment in real-world household, community and network scenarios, improve control systems and standards, and test a broader range of EV makes and charger hardware.
Dr Sam Behrens, CSIRO Senior Research Engineer, explains that Phase 2 of the project will be looking at building relationships with additional industry collaborators, such as car and charger manufacturers, and electricity industry innovators to help scale this work.
"With more partners, we can ensure that V2G solutions are robust, cost-effective, and reliably integrated into homes and the grid. We see enormous opportunity ahead, not just for EV owners, but for the broader energy sector and communities," Dr Behrens said.
The ENA award win reflects Essential Energy's commitment to deliver innovative, impactful solutions to customers across regional, rural and remote New South Wales. As the energy landscape continues to evolve, we're proud of our teams for their efforts to build a more resilient and inclusive future for our communities.
