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Honda’s advanced research and development division, Honda R&D Europe (GmbH), has made a significant breakthrough in vehicle to grid (V2G) technology. In a pilot with Next Kraftwerke GmbH, one of Europe’s largest Virtual Power Plant (VPP) operators, a fleet of mass produced EVs has achieved prequalification for the provision of frequency containment reserve (FCR) in Amprion’s grid area.

After 13 years, founder Jochen Schwill steps back as CEO of Next Kraftwerke. Co-founder and CEO Hendrik Sämisch strengthens the management team with two long-standing members from the Management Board. As of 2023, Katrin Jedamzik, Head of Finance, and Mark Lindenberg, Head of Green Energy, will join Hendrik Sämisch to form the Virtual Power Plant's executive management team.

After successful prequalification by the transmission system operator Amprion, eight charging stations and eight Hyundai IONIQ 5 vehicles have delivered secondary control reserve into Amprion's control area. The project – initiated by Hyundai Motor Group, LG Electronics and Next Kraftwerke – demonstrates that small assets and vehicle-to-grid can also make an important contribution to the provision of balancing power and thus to the stabilization of the power grid in Germany.

The project for aggregation of renewables, which was supported by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, produced initial results within the pilot period of two months. The consortium – under the leadership of Next Kraftwerke Toshiba Corporation (TNK) and Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation (Toshiba ESS) – was able to report positive developments with regard to reducing imbalances and increasing economic efficiency of the renewable energy plants involved.

As operator of one of the largest Virtual Power Plants in Europe, Next Kraftwerke reached a new milestone in April 2022. The company passed the 10,000 megawatt mark for aggregated generation capacity. Plants from the entire range of renewables are part of this network of power plants. 

The Cleantech Group announced the award of Next Kraftwerke as "Graduate of the year" in San Francisco. The 86-member expert panel rated Shell's acquisition of Next Kraftwerke as outstanding in the field of M&A.