The focus of the 7th Peer Review was on the interaction between the electrical grid and electrical vehicles. As more and more vehicles are being charged in public and private charging locations, it is becoming more important how the grid can handle the increased load. The learning conference showed, what happens with 65.000 EVs in the distribution grid. The Austrian partner, FHV – Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences presented their research in this area in 3 input presentations explaining the increasing number of the EV´s and the impact of the Austrian power grids, with the EV grid interaction in a simulation of a selected test grid in Vorarlberg and with the grid development and planning in general. We are going to focus on the first two in this article. Mr. Peter Kepplinger of FH Vorarlberg introduced the issue at hand in a more general sense, which is that the EV stock is increasing rapidly in the last couple of years. The costs associated with the increased loads are not equally distributed however, Austria’s biggest share costs arise in the low voltage grid, whereas high share of distributed charge is expected, therefore it is very difficult to plan when and where loads will appear. A well-developed electricity grid will also reach its limits and therefore requires significant investments on the grid even at 30% share of electric cars.
There are many potential solutions which are being development and are highly technical. One of them is developing control mechanisms and algorithms to limit the load of each individual charger, this overall decreasing the load on the grid. It does not require very complex hardware or software, however it still limits the charging capacities somehow, while easing the strain on the grid. This is one of the many solutions being tested at FHV, and it highlights how the electricity grid and the users might be able to cope with increased loads and this delay the effects of higher EV penetration until investments can be realized providing better energy security.
A detailed summary of the event can be found here.
