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By Ron Bousso
LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - BP said on Thursday it hadinvested in Chinese start-up PowerShare, which links electricvehicle drivers to charging points and helps power suppliersbalance distribution.
The PowerShare application, which is used in cities such asShanghai, will help manage growing pressure on power grids aselectric vehicles (EVs) usage surges in the coming decades.
With China targeting sales of more than 7 million EVs by2025, the need to manage demand and distribution of power on thegrid, particularly at times of peak demand, will be crucial.
BP's investment is the latest in a string by theLondon-based oil and gas major and several of its rivals,including Royal Dutch Shell and Total, in EVcharging as they target future low-carbon economies.
Car producers, utility firms and energy companies havedoubled down efforts in recent years to find ways to manage theexpected surge in power demand.
PowerShare helps drivers locate charging points and pay forthe supply, while allowing suppliers to optimise to balancedemand on the grid, depending on the time of day, for examplebetween city centres and residential areas.
"As more and more EVs come on, grid operators are concernedabout mobile demand. PowerShare can monitor where vehicles areand where demand is in the system," Graham Howes, managingdirector of BP Ventures in Asia, told Reuters.
BP, which has invested in fast-charging battery docks andbattery storage technologies, did not disclose the size of theinvestment in PowerShare, but its venturing business typicallyinvests up to ten million dollars in one firm.
"We wanted to find a technology that can cope with volume,"Howes said of PowerShare, which is BP Ventures' first directinvestment in China.(Reporting by Ron BoussoEditing by Alexander Smith)
