Electricity networks will require upgrade with large scale EV charging but cost can be minimised study finds
Fri 04 December 2015
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Across Britain, 32% of local electricity networks (312,000 circuits) will require intervention when 40% - 70% of customers have EVs. That's the headline finding at the conclusion of the My Electric Avenue project which was set up to study the capacity to deliver power for EV charging where demand is concentrated in small areas. The researchers found that new technology could reduce the cost of intervention by around £2.2 billion up to 2050.
My Electric Avenue has been an Ofgem Low Carbon Networks Fund project, designed to test a new technology, Esprit, which can control the charging of EVs if the local electricity grid becomes overloaded. The project sought to address two key, previously unanswered questions: Can local electricity networks cope when large numbers of EVs are charged at peak times? If not, what can we do about it?
The EA Technology-led project's finale event took place in early December, providing a chance to share learning and reveal details of a legacy initiative that will provide the platform for collaboration between the automotive and utilities sectors.
By recruiting clusters of neighbours around the country who drove Nissan LEAF electric cars for 18 months, the project teams aimed to mimic a future scenario where many people in an area choose to use a pure electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV).
The results, which come at a time when sales of plug-in cars have increased by 716% over the past two years, show that across Britain 32% of low voltage (LV) feeders (312,000 circuits) will require intervention when 40% - 70% of customers have EVs, based on 3.5 kW (16 amp) charging. Susceptible networks are typically characterised by available capacity of less than 1.5 kW per customer.
Traditionally, these findings would mean the replacement of underground cables in the public highway, however My Electric Avenue has been trialling a lower cost solution to this in the form of ‘Esprit’. Esprit is an innovative piece of technology that can control the charging of EVs if the local electricity grid reaches a certain level of demand. By incorporating Esprit into networks, the project is the first real-life trial that has directly controlled domestic EV charging to prevent underground cables, overhead lines and substations being potentially overloaded.
Forecasts suggest that Esprit could save around £2.2 billion of reinforcement costs up to 2050. However, for this solution to work, car manufacturers and the energy industry will need to work together more closely.
My Electric Avenue is now coming to an end and it is disseminating its findings so that energy companies, car manufacturers and others can learn from the project.
My Electric Avenue Project Director, Dave Roberts from EA Technology said: “The automotive sector has well established and effective communication channels to discuss industry issues. However, historically there has not been much cross-sector communication between the automotive and energy industries.
"My Electric Avenue has brought these two sectors together and has started dialogue, and this needs to develop further as vehicle manufacturers announce plans for increasing numbers of higher performance plug-in vehicles.”
The LowCVP plans to work with the My Electric Avenue team to build on the project's findings and establish the most cost-effective pathways to delivering rapid EV uptake at lowest cost and disruption.
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