Demand for EVs is rising rapidly. Millions of EVs come onto European roads, which helps in the ongoing transition to sustainable mobility. But at the same time, they add to the pressure on an already-strained electricity grid. Charging vehicles in a ‘smart’ way is essential to relieve this burden and promote the adoption of green transport.
While such levels of EV uptake are unlikely to cause more than a 5% increase in total electricity consumption, significant grid upgrades may be required to handle increased charging demand in certain locations, especially those where EVs are all charged at the same time of day.
In these areas, distribution system operators (DSOs) will be compelled to invest in circuitry, substations, and distribution cables to carry electricity from the transmission system to the EV chargers.
Smart Charging – a cost-friendly alternative to grid upgrades
Smart charging emerges as a cost-effective alternative to extensive grid upgrades for DSOs. Rather than solely investing in expensive grid enhancements, DSOs can incentivise EV drivers to align their charging behaviors with the real-time constraints of the local electricity grid. Offering price incentives, like reduced connection tariffs for dynamic grid connections, can help flatten consumption peaks and distribute energy use evenly throughout the day. Although current legislation may not fully support these incentive schemes, they do present an opportunity for DSOs to rely on fewer infrastructure components while meeting the growing demand for energy and power. Additionally, without accelerated upgrades, some EU regions may face the necessity of restricting charge station placements without prior grid operator approval to prevent local outages. However, smart charging can mitigate this by enabling an increase in the number of charge stations at a location without congesting the grid, supporting efficient deployment, and reducing costs. Monitoring the load of the grid transformer and implementing smart charging algorithms, considering individual phase loads, can significantly enhance grid capacity. Ultimately, this approach facilitates quicker and more cost-effective installation and management of charge stations by charge point operators.
About Smart Charging
Smart charging is defined as increasing or decreasing the maximum charge rate of an EV over a set period of time. Smart charging is a means to optimise power distribution and charge more electric vehicles at the same time and at a faster rate. Its utilisation leads to considerable savings for grid operators, CPOs, charge point owners, and EV drivers. Cloud-based smart charging can be implemented dynamically and in response to different triggers, such as capacity limitations (static or dynamic) and energy tariff fluctuations. Plus, GreenFlux’s smart charging solutions can be applied to any type or brand of charge station.
Our smart charging technology is run from the cloud and applied using open standards, giving customers real-time control over any type of charge station. These solutions help CPOs save on infrastructure costs and yearly fees by facilitating the installation of more charge stations on existing grid connections. Further, they provide the opportunity for operators to monetise the flexibility of EV charging and facilitate charging even more vehicles with energy from renewable energy sources, namely the sun and wind.
Learn More
GreenFlux is delighted to announce that it will be exhibiting at E-World 2024 in Essen, Germany, from 20 – 22 February 2024, at Booth 4C124 in Hall 4. More information is also available on the website.
About GreenFlux
GreenFlux, a DKV Mobility Group company, enables charging point operators and mobility service providers to expand their eMobility activities. The GreenFlux eMobility platform offers comprehensive capabilities to help customers expand their network, provide excellent experiences to drivers, and minimize operational costs. Accelerating the transition to sustainable mobility since 2011, GreenFlux enables a roaming network of 564,000+ charging points accessible to millions of drivers across Europe and has facilitated more than 5 billion electric kilometres through its platform. More information: https://www.greenflux.com
Link: How smart charging can accelerate the energy transition | GreenFlux