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V adoption and integration with the power grid through VGI depend on the decisions and actions taken by different stakeholders. VGI is a multilateral concept involving a variety of different stakeholders. The various stakeholders have different benefits to pursue, different barriers to overcome, and different perspectives on the uptake of EVs and their integration with the grid. This study has reached out to different stakeholders in the Indian EV sector and attempted to capture their views on VGI in the Indian context. The research entailed a questionnaire-based consultation with these stakeholders on the key aspects of VGI.
5.1 Stakeholders and their roles The different Indian stakeholders whose involvement is necessary for VGI deployment include battery experts, DISCOMs, Research and Development (R&D) institutions, fleet operators, and charging service providers (Figure 12). The roles of these stakeholders are detailed below.
EV OWNERS COULD BE INTERESTED IN CONTROLLED CHARGING OR VGI PROGRAMMES IF THE FINANCIAL INCENTIVES TO PARTICIPATE WERE HIGH ENOUGH AND THE VEHICLE RANGE WAS NOT NEGATIVELY IMPACTED.
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DISCOMs: The primary concern of DISCOMs is ensuring the reliability and stability of the power grid. These parameters can be disturbed if many EVs are being charged at the same time, causing the grid to be overloaded. DISCOMs could be interested in controlled EV charging or V2G if peak loading of the grid could be avoided or delayed. With controlled charging, the charging rate could be lowered, or charging could be shifted to off-peak hours. Additionally, with V2G, EVs could feed power into the grid during peak hours.
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Fleet Operators: The main interest of the fleet operator is to fulfil transportation needs. In terms of e-mobility requirements, fleet operators want to minimise EV charging costs. EV owners could be interested in controlled charging or VGI programmes if the financial incentives to participate were high enough and the vehicle range was not negatively impacted. Regarding V2G, EV owners are concerned about possible battery degradation.
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Battery Experts: There is apprehension among battery experts that EV battery health may be degraded in VGI. The cost of battery degradation as a result of V2G charging/ discharging has to be offset by the financial incentives to participate in a V2G programme. Battery experts see the need to model EV battery operations in order to analyse the impact of VGI on different battery chemistries and develop strategies to reduce this impact, as well as explore the potential use of degraded batteries as second life batteries.
4.
R&D Institutions: VGI is still at its nascent stage, and a lot of research is needed to enable successful VGI implementation; in this context, R&D institutions play a vital role. The role of these institutions is to execute pilot projects on different aspects of VGI, such as the feasibility of EVbased VPPs, bidding strategies for VPPs, considering uncertain outputs from EVs and RE sources, frequency regulation and improvement in grid reliability through V2G, consideration of V2G enabled charging stations in distribution network planning, etc.
5.
Charging Service Providers: A huge demand for EV charging infrastructure exists on most urban roads, as well as highways. A good charging facility and demand aggregation strategy is essential for the success of charging infrastructure businesses. All chargers and charging stations will be new additions in terms of load on the grid, and it is
