NIO Power Grid Service now also in the Netherlands: together with Vandebron NIO is making a contribution to the balancing
- NIO Power Grid Service deploying Power Swap Stations to balance supply and demand in the local energy grid for Vandebron
- EQUIGY crowd-balancing platform facilitates Vandebron to provide balancing services to TenneT
After conducting a series of successful tests, as well as a recent rollout in Denmark, NIO is now also introducing its innovative NIO Power Grid Service in the Netherlands. Thanks to collaborations between grid operator TenneT, EQUIGY’s Crowd-Balancing Platform and energy company Vandebron, VandeBron is operating on the aFRR market in the Netherlands. Vandebron has engaged in a partnership with NIO Power Grid Service, which therefore now helps to provide a better balance in the Dutch energy grid, an essential prerequisite for sustainable development. NIO’s battery-swap stations are playing an important role in this.
Energy grid in balance
NIO battery-swapping stations are unique because they enable NIO users to swap a car battery for a fully charged one really quickly. At the moment, nine such stations are already operational in the Netherlands, with over 40 throughout Europe. What’s more, NIO’s battery-swapping stations are also playing another key role. Thanks to their smart architecture, they can help balance power demand on the energy grid.
This is the first time that a car brand has collaborated like this in helping to access Flex. A key objective of the NIO Power Grid Service is ensuring an optimum balance between supply and demand on the energy grid when NIO battery-swapping stations are used. To this end, the circular use of the stored and surplus energy serves as the departure point. NIO successfully applied this new technology for the first time in December 2023. Denmark was the first European country in which NIO Power Swap Stations provided a Frequency Control Reserve for Disturbance (FCR-D) service to maintain grid stability.
The launch of the NIO Power Grid Service with automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve (aFRR) in the Netherlands marks the latest milestone in the rollout of the service. Thanks to a partnership with Vandebron in the area of frequency stabilisation, the swapping stations key into the aFRR at exactly the right time, ensuring that both power supply and storage are accurately controlled.
Supply and demand
To realise this, NIO has entered into a partnership with Vandebron.. Via Vandebron and it’s connection to Equigy’s CBP, companies like NIO is enabled to play a crucial role in the energy transition by optimising interaction with the network. In this case, NIO’s battery-swapping stations can store excess energy when necessary, such as during moments of peak supply, for example. In this way, NIO’s Power Grid Service is contributing to a more stable and sustainable energy network.
“Together with EQUIGY and Vandebron, we are offering an innovative solution for balancing the services of the Dutch energy grid,” says Ruben Keuter, General Manager of NIO Netherlands. “These partnerships underscore our commitment to sustainable development and show how innovation and collaboration can help create a greener future.”
“One of today’s most complex issues is accessing flexible power,” insists Martin van ‘t Verlaat, Chief Technology Officer at EQUIGY. “Our collaboration with Vandebron also enables companies like NIO to support one another in realising collective sustainability goals.”
“We are looking forward to collaborating with NIO in charging the batteries in the Power Swap Stations as intelligently and sustainably as possible and then using them for flexible balancing services,” adds Wessel Bakker, Product Developer Flex at Vandebron. “It is so rewarding to see that by working together in the innovation process we can contribute towards a better balance of the overloaded energy grid.”
The NIO Power Grid Service has been operational in the Netherlands since June. NIO also plans to offer this service in countries that include Germany, Norway and Sweden.
About NIO
Founded on 25 November, 2014, NIO is a globally operating company that designs, develops and builds smart and powerful electric cars. Our mission is “To Shape a Joyful Lifestyle” for our users by means of thought-through design, excellent services and advanced technology. NIO operates R&D centres and manufacturing facilities in Shanghai, Hefei, Beijing, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, San Jose, Munich, Oxford, Berlin, Budapest and Singapore. Furthermore, we have set up sales and service networks in China, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark that provide products and services to users in over 300 cities around the world. By 2025, NIO aims to serve users in more than 25 countries and regions all over the world.
In 2015, the NIO Formula E team won the first FIA Formula E Drivers’ Championship. A year later, in 2016, NIO launched the EP9, one of the world’s fastest electric vehicles. In 2017, NIO unveiled its vision model, the EVE. On 28 June, 2018, NIO started deliveries in China of the ES8, a large electric SUV with seven seats. On 12 September, 2018, NIO was listed on the NYSE and on 19 March, 2022, on the HKEX. On 20, May, 2022, NIO was successfully listed on the SGX.
NIO’s line-up includes the electric ES8 SUV, the electric EC7 coupe SUV, the electric mid-to-large ES7 (or EL7) SUV, the electric ET7 sedan, the versatile electric ES6 (or EL6) SUV, the all-new electric EC6 coupe SUV, the electric ET5 sedan and the electric ET5 Touring.
About Vandebron
Vandebron was established in 2014 to make the energy market fairer, more sustainable and more transparent. The company’s mission is to realise 100 per cent sustainable energy in the Netherlands as quickly as possible by making 100 per cent green energy, generated by Dutch producers, available to consumers. By using smart technology, they are making this green energy available 100 per cent of the time. More than 325 energy sources and 180,000 customers have now been connected to the platform. Since 2017, Vandebron has also offered electric-driving services, such as charging cards, charging stations and smart charging. Since January 2020, Vandebron has been part of Essent. The company is based in Amsterdam. For more information, go to www.vandebron.nl
About Equigy
EQUIGY plays a key role in accelerating the energy transition and the integration of the energy system. With the European crowd-balancing platform, EQUIGY is creating a trusted data exchange that enables aggregators with smaller flexibility devices, such as home batteries and electric vehicles, to participate in electricity balancing markets, thus converting consumers into prosumers. With six leading European Transmission System Operators (TSOs): TenneT NL, TenneT GER , Terna , Swissgrid, APG and TransnetBW, EQUIGY aspires to set cross-industry standards throughout Europe, in support of a future-proof, reliable and cost-effective electricity system that does not rely on fossil-fuel-based flexibility sources.
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