More than 100 vehicles of the Chinese EV maker Nio participated in a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) discharge demonstration in the city of Tianjin, near the country’s capital.
According to local media outlet Tianjin Daily, the event was jointly organized by State Grid Tianjin Electric Power, which manages and distributes energy in the city, and EV maker Nio, which operates charging stations across the city.
Song Bo, a Nio Tianjin representative, stated that the company “mobilized 104 car owners via the app and WeChat group in just two days.”
The V2G discharge demonstration took place simultaneously at four locations: Xuelian Road V2G charging stations Zones 1 and 2, the Binhai New Area Dual-Carbon Innovation Demonstration Charging Station, and the Jinghai Nio Battery Swap Station.
The event began last week at Nio‘s battery swap station, and once its power stabilized at 190 kW, the other three stations joined simultaneously.
After 30 minutes of continuous discharge, the fleet reached an average power output of 1.644 MW, with a peak of 1.741 MW — according to the report.
Using V2G technology, electric vehicles can supply electricity to the grid during peak demand and recharge during low-demand periods, effectively acting as mobile, dispatchable energy storage units.
Battery Swap Station Deployment
As part of its ‘Power Up Counties’ plan, Nio said earlier this year it aimed to extend charging and battery swap coverage to every county-level region in China by the end of 2025.
It reached full coverage in the city of Tianjin in May, covering all its 16 districts, with 56 battery swap stations built there, it said on WeChat.
As of Tuesday, Nio operates 3,639 battery swap stations across China, with 27,600 charging piles and over 95.4 million battery swaps completed.
Grid Stabilization
In 2022, several Nio battery swap stations took part in programs aimed at grid regulation in China, focusing especially on reducing electricity demand during peak summer periods. By then, 108 stations were used.
As of February 2024 — the latest update known — nearly 600 Nio swap stations across 14 Chinese provinces were participating in grid load regulation, offering a combined capacity of around 300,000 kW.
Since then, the number of battery swap stations in China has sharply increased, but an updated figure on the participating stations is unknown.
Grid Regulation in Europe
In Europe, the brand introduced its battery swap stations in Norway in early 2022 and has since expanded to several other countries.
Nio operates a total of 60 battery swap stations across the continent.
In Denmark, the country’s sole Nio Power Swap station provided frequency regulation services since February 2024, according to Fei Shen, the former Senior Vice President of Nio Power and current head of the company’s Onvo brand.
However, the station was recently closed.
Last month, Nio announced that its battery swap stations were approved to help stabilize Sweden’s electricity grid, as as part of the country’s frequency regulation system.
