Heavy duty EVs a driver for grid development – ENTSO-E

The recharging infrastructure for heavy duty electric vehicles (EVs) should be planned with the involvement of grid operators, ENTSO-E states in a new position paper.

While hydrogen is often stated as the preferred solution for the decarbonisation of heavy transport, just as both batteries and hydrogen are likely to have a role in passenger vehicles so too they are both likely options in the heavy duty sector.

In any event battery powered buses are being put on the roads increasingly, as are battery electric delivery trucks for example and the infrastructure is needed for them.

The position paper is aimed to address the issue from the TSO perspective, noting its particular relevance for planning and for grid and energy system operation.

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After passenger vehicles, heavy duty vehicles are the second most CO2 emitting segment in the transport sector accounting for almost 30% of the road transport emissions in Europe, the paper notes, stating that they are approaching decarbonisation faster than expected due to their underlying business cases.

Moreover battery electric trucks for local and regional operations and especially buses, which are commercially available and competitive regarding total cost of ownership, could represent an anchor load for faster commercial uptake by vehicle manufacturers and for charging operators, the paper states noting that one truck consumes the equivalent of 50 cars.

Charging infrastructure for heavy duty EVs

The position paper notes the need for charging infrastructure at operator depots, where the majority of charging is expected to take place and primarily overnight and during other non-working hours, at logistic hubs such as ports with opportunistic charging during loading/unloading operations, and along the public highways, where thousands of new MW-scale devices in charging stations will be required.

The target European standard expected before 2025 is maximum 1,250V – 3,000A.

In terms of the grid impact this could be reduced with the presence of a stationary battery in the charging station or with battery swapping solutions.

Similarly, with the deployment of a public hydrogen refuelling infrastructure for fuel cell heavy vehicles requiring hundreds of new stations, repurposing of the current fossil fuel stations would avoid the need for special grid connections and small on-site electrolysers could reduce the costs of hydrogen transport.

With battery heavy duty EV consumption projected to make up almost one-third of electrified road transport by 2030, ENTSO-E calls for member states to involve grid operators in the planning of the recharging infrastructure.

MW scale charging stations are expected to require 15–35MVA network connections, which usually occur directly at the HV level, and smart charging will be required to avoid evening and overnight peaks.

In addition, and significantly, heavy duty EVs have the potential to deliver flexibility services via for example planned charging due to route predictability or depot charging, but the relevant regulatory and business frameworks must be swiftly developed and implemented.

“The opportunities that arise for the system as a whole when capturing the flexibility that the decarbonisation of the transport sector provides are indeed important,” comments Uroš Salobir, chair of ENTSO-E’s Research Development & Innovation Committee.

“Those will only be effectively seized when putting a favourable framework for innovation in place and when maintaining an enhanced cooperation among the system operators and key stakeholders involved.”