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NETWORK / 32 / JULY/AUGUST 2016 C h a r g i n g C o n s e n s u s Gill Nowell, Smart EV project manager at EA Technology, says standardisation is key to control charging Electric vehicles, or rather the management of those electric vehicles in harmony with the electricity network, affords great opportunities to DNOs and customers alike, in the shape of reduction in investment costs, customer bills and disruption. In fact, if we do it right, we'll be looking at saving costs to customers of £2.2 billion by 2050. EA Technology's Smart EV project is addressing this challenge, in response to the findings of the My Electric Avenue project. While presenting a huge challenge to the DNOs, these findings also offer great potential. First, My Electric Avenue happened just at the right time, at the cusp of EV take-off; EV sales increased by 716% between 2013 and 2015. Government has just announced that all new cars and vans will be electric by 2040. Second, the time is right for finding and embedding a solution to manage EV uptake on electricity networks that will work with people, with cars, with the supply chain and with our electricity networks. So what is the answer, and where do the opportunities for DNOs really lie? EA Technology's Smart EV is working towards the answer, in the form of wide- scale adoption of a controlled EV charging solution. There is currently no market mechanism to facilitate rollout of a technical solution (such as demand side response) to enable controlled EV uptake on electricity networks. The Smart EV project is funded through Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution's network innovation allowance, and is endorsed by all six UK DNOs. At present there is no standardised method of curtailing EV chargers, and a number of manufacturers have developed proprietary systems. Left alone, this will lead to a multitude of system types with little commonality, which would make adoption of EV charge control much more difficult in the future. The aim of Smart EV is to achieve consensus on the mechanism that can be used to facilitate the rollout of controlled EV charging. In doing so, it will enable larger numbers of EVs to charge on today's local electricity distribution networks, with the knock-on effect of avoiding the need for traditional reinforcement in many cases, and so avoiding those huge costs to customers. Ultimately, the project will seek to inform a national engineering recommendation (or equivalent) for the connection, charging and control of new EV load to domestic properties. A key part of this project is to present the engineering options to a set of stakeholders, and seek opinions as to the most viable for all concerned. We'll then move towards a single viable solution that is backed by stakeholders. We need the input of as many relevant stakeholders as possible – charging point manufacturers, installers, EV manufacturers, policymakers and others involved in the supply chain. EA Technology is launching its consultation on the engineering options in August. We will invite and welcome your input. distribution grid can control the charging of domestic EVs if the demand reaches a certain level. Through the use of such technology, the cost of reinforcement required to networks can be reduced by approximately £2.2 billion up to 2050. Good Energy's chief executive, Juliet Davenport, has proposed that a solution to the problem of home charging should be implemented before the problem actually arises on any scale. She has called for EV manufacturers to make it standard for EVs to delay charging until times of low energy demand, rather than the current system of customer opt-in. Speaking to the Energy and Climate Change Committee in June, Davenport said: "We should have these systems built into mechanisms so they don't create other issues; we should be thinking about that kind of legislation now." A follow up project to My Electric Avenue, which was led by EA Technology in partnership with SSPD, is working towards a consensus on charging control technology to achieve standardisation (read more in Gill Nowell's column, le'). Meanwhile, WPD's world beating EV project will undertake a mass-market custoemr trial over three years. It aims to prove the technical and economic viability of demand control for avoiding netowrk reinforcement while also meeting drivers' needs. Car park of storage Once the rollout of smart meters has ushered in a world of time-of-use tariffs, demand control technology will allow electric vehicle drivers to take advantage of periods of low demand, such as during the night or when renewable output is high, cutting the cost of charging further while benefiting DNOs. This use of electric vehicles has the potential to go a step further, acting as a "car park of storage" to be recharged to the grid in times of peak demand in place of generation assets. Studies have shown that the average EV is parked – and therefore potentially accessible to the grid – around 95% of the time, including at times of peak demand. Automotive manufacturer Nissan earlier this year launched a vehicle-to- grid trial in the UK in partnership with Italian DSO Enel. To test the viability of the technology and consumer appetite for the additional income stream, 100 vehicle-to-grid units will be placed at locations across the country in agreement with Nissan EV drivers (see more on page 34). If all 18,000 Nissan electric vehicles in the UK were connected to the energy ELECTRIC VEHICLES