A nationwide smart charging project has begun in the Netherlands, with the aim of establishing a set of international standards for the technology.

The project will establish internationally applicable standards for smart charging electric vehicles.

The government-backed Living Lab Smart Charging programme spans 80% of the country’s public charging stations across 325 municipalities, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague, but will soon be extended to the entire network.

Its aim is to see how electric vehicle owners can be used to store solar and wind energy, with drivers paid out for enabling this to be fed back to the grid during peak periods. All new charging points are already being fitted with smart charging technology.

This will take place in three stages; upgrading the incompatible chargers to work with the project, then carrying out live testing with customers using an app to decide how much energy they need. This will then be used to develop a set of smart charge standards, to enable other countries to benefit from the research.