Back in 2015, Gogoro proposed setting up a network of battery-swapping stations so that riders of its electric smartscooter no longer had to worry about per-charge range. Now the company operates thousands of them, and has partnered with Enel X to have the network serve as virtual power plants in Taiwan.

"We are entering a new era of smart energy infrastructure, and by integrating the Gogoro Network with the Enel X Virtual Power Plant (VPP) in Taiwan we are providing a new energy resource," said founder and CEO of Gogoro, Horace Luke. "It is the first time this technology has been deployed this way in the world, and it creates a new Gogoro revenue stream beyond mobility."

The basic idea is to have Gogoro's battery hubs dynamically pause the charging of their docked batteries and feed stored energy back to the power grid when demand is high or an imbalance is detected. Once the grid levels out again, a signal is sent out to the Gogoro Network and charging recommences.

Gogoro and Enel X ran a pilot last year to test the setup, and found that the network of battery swapping stations involved in the trial successfully "performed these services without causing any interruptions to Gogoro Network battery swapping customers, demonstrating that the network is an ideal resource to support Taiwan’s energy transition."

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