electric/hybrid

London tests new smart energy system for EV charging

A smart new system for charging electric vehicles is being tested in London to help get the electricity network ready for widespread use of electric vehicles
London tests new smart energy system for EV charging

London’s electricity distributor, UK Power Networks, has embarked on a Low Carbon London trial in partnership with POD Point, Smarter Grid Solutions and Imperial College London. The project began in December 2013 and will run until April testing POD Point’s new Carbon Sync software and Smarter Grid Solutions ‘Active Network’ management system. These systems will briefly suspend the flow of electricity to selected public EV charge points at peak times on the network while ensuring drivers still receive a sufficient level of charge.

Smart systems will be needed in major cities and population centres around the world ready for when electricity begins to replace petrol and diesel as a main fuel source for transport. This will be essential in order to prevent the electricity system being overloaded by colossal extra demand or having to reequip substations or dig up busy roads for cable laying.

Three sites have been selected for the trial, including five public charge points in the City, ten in Beckton and fifty at the most popular locations in London. The smart control system has been designed to have no noticeable impact on those using the charge points.

“Success in these trials could reduce the cost and disruption associated with building new power infrastructure to support the expansion of EV charging systems, benefiting consumers across the country” said Michael Clark, Low Carbon London programme director. “We believe this is the first trial of ‘active network management’ involving electric vehicles in Britain.”

Alan Gooding, Commercial Director and Co-Founder, Smarter Grid Solutions, added that Active Network Management is already proven as a highly effective way of connecting larger volumes of distributed energy, such as solar, wind and CHP, to congested electricity networks.

“This new trial is a great opportunity to demonstrate that the technique can also help electricity network operators to accommodate other features of a low carbon economy, such as electric vehicle use” Mr Gooding said.

Adding electric car charging facilities is something that will need to be monitored closely according to Erik Fairbairn, CEO of POD Point, in order to ensure drivers are supplied with electricity without overloading the network. The software used in the trial monitors, in real time, the demand and status of all charge points in the network and the level of charge required by each car. The information is then fed into a control algorithm which carefully manages the charge point to ensure the driver receives a full charge without exceeding local capacity.

The Government’s Carbon Plan aims to source ten percent of UK transport energy from renewable sources by 2020. A 25 percent uptake of EV’s by 2030 could potentially lead to half the transformers closest to homes and businesses needing an upgrade if smart controls are not deployed on the network. This could increase the cost of new EV infrastructure.

The software involved in the trial will provide live data showing electricity demand from a cluster of charge points and how much demand could be reduced if curtailed. Interruptions to EV charging are designed to have no noticeable effect on drivers using the charge points while monitoring of the state and rate of charge will ensure that supply of electricity to those drivers needing it most is not interrupted.

The data collected during the trial will be extrapolated by Imperial College London to model the impact on London’s electricity cables and substations across a variety of scenarios.

For additional information:

UK Power Networks

POD Point

Smarter Grid Solutions

Imperial College London

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