Utility Week

26 | 24TH - 30TH JANUARY 2020 | UTILITY WEEK Operations & Assets Analysis T he EV Energy Taskforce was set up to further the government's Road to Zero strategy and is chaired by the Energy Systems Catapult chief executive Philip New. Its mission is to bring together the energy and automotive industries to facilitate the deployment of EVs and EV charging net- works, and earlier this month it published a report with a series of recommendations to further this aim. Among the headline recommendations are that smart charging should be the default for domestic charging points from next year, and that the government and Ofgem should support the development of a coordinated and accessible market for flexibility aimed at EV drivers by 2023 at the latest. The taskforce makes 21 proposals in all, grouped into five themes: delivering con- sumer benefits through interoperability; rewarding consumers for charging smartly; utilising and protecting data for better con- sumer outcomes; winning consumers' trust and confidence; and developing and main- taining the charging infrastructure consum- ers need. They together make up what New called a "crashingly urgent agenda". The report stresses the importance of delivering consumer benefits through inter- operability, including enabling roaming services to deliver a "seamless" experience between public charge points, by the end of 2021. Another theme is rewarding consumers for charging smartly – including the need for the government to maximise the number of consumers installing smart meters alongside EV charge point installation. The report also includes a section on developing and maintaining the charging infrastructure consumers need. The task- force insists that the RIIO2 price control process must support well-justified antici- patory network investment, including low- voltage network monitoring, in EV charging infrastructure. Blueprint for an EV rollout The EV Energy Taskforce set out a 'crushingly urgent' agenda this month with 21 calls to action to kick-start the electric vehicle market. James Wallin reports. 1 Delivering consumer benefits through interoperability Proposal 1 By no later than 2025 industry must have reached convergence on a preferred set of stand- ards that meet interoperability requirements across the EV charging infrastructure. Govern- ment must intervene if this is not achieved. Government and industry should, as a matter of urgency, review, define and propose interna- tional standards for communications, data and security protocols in order to meet this goal. To support this work government should establish a body with industry to coordinate the involvement of industry stakeholders. Proposal 2 Government and industry must ensure system resilience by design. This includes ensuring that charge point operators are aware of their responsibilities for ensuring the security of their systems. Government, together with industry, should agree a common standard base for cyber-security but not mandate a single solution. However, the government should provide sup- port for the preferred set of standards, including device certification. Proposal 3 Industry should enable roaming services to deliver a seamless EV charging experience between public charge points by 2021. Proposal 4 Government and Ofgem, through the electricity industry technical and market code governance frameworks, should ensure overall operational coordination of industry parties seeking to exploit EV flexibility through smart charging technologies and electricity market products by 2021. Clear visibility as to which market products are in play must be evident to both industry and users at any time, as well as which transactions have occurred over a settlement period. It must also ensure that the operation of smart charging does not present a risk to the stability of the electricity system. Proposal 5 Industry should agree to extending the minimum technical requirements for smart chargers set out by OLEV to facilitate the management of electric- ity network capacity and energy availability. These requirements should be introduced in line with the powers set out in the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act by 2021. Proposal 6 If permitted, network and system operators must work with Ofgem, industry and consumer repre- sentatives to develop governance arrangements for the use of emergency charge limitation by a network company. Emergency charge limitation should only be used as a last resort to maintain the safety and security of the electricity system. Proposal 7 By 2021 industry must develop common labelling standards for electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), enforced by government if necessary, so that consumers are aware of the forms of inter- operability available from clear, comprehensible EVSE package labelling and other product mate- rial. There are a number of types of interoper- ability and it is proposed that generally, offering these is leŠ as an option for EVSE providers.

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