The rise of electromobility stressing already stretched grids

Growth Unit Network Energy Storage | 9 January 2023

Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming increasingly popular. According to BloombergNEF’s Long-Term Electric Vehicle Outlook 2021, they could represent 70% of new passenger car sales by 2040 globally. By this time, almost half of all cars on the road will be electric, leading to greater reliance on EV charging infrastructure.

However, most distribution grids were not designed to handle large numbers of EVs charging at the same time. This charging process can place a large and sudden demand on the system, potentially leading to voltage unbalance or blackouts.

As an example, if all passenger cars in Texas were electrified today, the state would need approximately 110 more terawatt-hours of electricity per year; the average annual electricity consumption of 11 million homes.

The added electricity demand would result in a 30 percent increase in current consumption and would test the state’s ability to produce enough clean energy, in addition to its ability to supply clean energy to users in already constrained areas⁠^[1].

To avoid these issues, distribution grids will need major upgrades. Or can these issues be solved via incentives for EV owners to charge at off-peak times?

In our white paper entitled ‘Connecting EV charging stations to distribution networks’, the Growth Unit Network Energy Storage (NES) explores the challenges facing EV infrastructure proponents and Distribution Network Service Providers (DNSPs) across regions including ANZ, EMEA and the USA.

These challenges include connecting EV charging stations to distribution networks, Vehicle-to-X, and expanding, reinforcing, and digitizing grid infrastructure to ensure it meets the dynamic nature of EV driver behavior.

The Growth Unit NES also proposes five possible solutions to these challenges to support the successful uptake of EVs all over the world, enabled by distribution grids that can safely handle the changing profile of electricity demand.

^[1]  https://www.powermag.com/driving-change-on-the-grid-the-impact-of-ev-adoption/