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Coordinated infrastructure planning and significant investments in grids are essential for the cost-effective decarbonisation of mobility, a new paper from ETIP SNET highlights.
The electrification of transport is key for the decarbonisation of this sector but comes with multiple challenges around new solutions that must be supported with integration and coordination with the energy sector.
A new ETIP SNET paper, ‘Grid integration of sustainable transport’, is aimed to address this, particularly the integration of e-mobility to the grids with the support of storage and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology.
Based on investigation into EU funded projects such as EV4EU, eC4D, FlexCHESS and HELIOS among others, the paper reports that while solutions are being developed to meet the goals in sustainable transport and EV integration, R&D efforts must continue to ensure such solutions are actually viable in economic and technological terms and to close gaps.
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For example, greater attention needs to be paid to developing advanced AI-driven optimisation algorithms for real-time energy management, grid aware charging and predictive analytics to balance demand and supply dynamically.
Best practices from these projects demonstrate the feasibility of integrating EVs into smart grids, leveraging flexibility mechanisms such as demand response to enhance grid stability and promote sustainable urban transformation, the paper reports.
Another finding is that V2G can help to boost road transport electrification in cases where the business case is favourable, mainly for company cars in the current situation.
However, the transition to widespread EV adoption and sustainable mobility requires significant improvements to the electrical grid and storage infrastructure. Anticipatory investments are considered essential to accommodate unpredictable EV charging demand.
Studies highlight that battery storage, particularly four-hour systems, effectively mitigates grid strain from fast charging stations. Additionally, integrating decentralised PV and batteries can reduce grid reinforcement costs and improve stability.
Smart charging and V2G technology also offer the grids crucial flexibility, although their full potential remains hindered by regulatory, economic and technical barriers, such as the lack of incentives for specific network tariffs, standardisation issues and the absence of dedicated market mechanisms for DSOs.
A further finding is that optimising EV charging through smart charging, V2G and storage integration also can enhance grid resilience as well as reduce operational costs and maximise energy efficiency.
For the batteries themselves, proper charging patterns have been found to increase their longevity and performance, off-setting the higher wear and tear of their elements due to the higher number of cycles typical in V1G and V2G.
Innovation needs
Innovation needs highlighted include promoting research into hybrid storage systems to improve grid stability and reduce infrastructure costs.
Another is the need for studies on economic models and regulatory frameworks to guide policymakers in implementing effective incentives and market structures that support flexibility, aggregation and decentralised energy trading.
On the policy front for the EU, needs include recommendations and guidance for member states to reduce connection times for EV charging points and promoting the adoption of electricity retail contracts and tariffs offering dynamic pricing to financially incentivise smart charging.
From the more technical perspective on integrating EVs into the electricity grid, regulatory development is necessary on a harmonised framework for equipment certificates for system operators and mandatory certification schemes are needed for V2G EVs and associated EV supply equipment.
Originally published on Enlit World.
