Dive Brief:

• Circle K is working with electrification company Nuvve to upgrade electric vehicle charging stations at 50 of the c-store chain’s locations and up to five stationary storage locations in Norway and Denmark, according to a press release. 
• Alimentation Couche-Tard-owned Circle K will use Nuvve’s GIVe platform to access services such as frequency regulation that helps balance out supply and demand on the grid.
• This agreement comes roughly a month after Circle K shifted its electric vehicle charging network to the Driivz platform.

Dive Insight:

As Circle K continues to expand and improve its EV charging network, it’s trying out new partnerships, including this one, which could help its EV chargers generate more income. That could be especially important as some c-store operators worry about how to make EV charging profitable in the first place.

The company has been rolling out EV charging in many parts of its footprint in recent years — it has 430 chargers in Norway, 130 in Denmark and is aiming for 200 across North America by 2024. 

This collaboration will use Nuvve’s software to connect Circle K's Alpitronic hyperchargers and the chosen storage systems to the Nuvve GIVe platform, allowing Circle K to make real-time adjustments to the flow of electricity. It “addresses key challenges with a rapidly expanding network of chargers,” said Håkon Stiksrud, head of global e-mobility in Circle K.

The agreement with Nuvve allows for fast-frequency response, which will enable EV chargers to react quickly and reduce how much energy they’re pulling for a few seconds, a Nuvve spokesperson in an email. This can help alleviate demand while the electric company addresses dips in the power grid. Those dips can come from things, such as downed power lines or variations in certain types of generation, like wind or solar, said the spokesperson. 

This is the first time direct-current fast chargers have been used for frequency regulation, according to the release.

“Circle K will always optimize and grasp opportunities to make it easier for all to grow sustainable e-mobility,” said Stiksrud. “Enabling fast frequency response on our charging network paves the way for increased renewable share on the power grid as well as increased resilience of the grid itself. For us, the collaboration with Nuvve addresses key challenges with a rapidly expanding network of chargers,” 

San Diego, California-based Nuvve is well known for its vehicle-to-grid technology, which allows electric vehicle owners to sell electricity from their batteries back to the grid during times of peak demand. 

Laval, Quebec-based Alimentation Couche-Tard is the largest c-store operator in Canada and the second-largest in the U.S., with more than 7,000 locations in North America and 14,000 globally. Besides Circle K, its c-store banners also include the U.S. On the Run locations as well as Holiday Stationstores.