Green Energy
infrastructure will involve paying for any infrastructure upgrades necessary to get the power to where it is needed. A business that wants to electrify its fleet, for example, might be several kilometres away from the nearest substation or nearest access point to power. Groundwork is needed to create or upgrade the connection, and there is often a backlog of engineering works. Even a fully specified and approved project could be subject to a lengthy wait of some years for the necessary engineering work to bring it online. This means the business might have to reduce its electrification ambitions, relocate or look at alternative solutions. Although upgrading the grid infrastructure to meet future business needs is a priority, there are other technologies that can be deployed to help support the existing infrastructure, reduce business costs, improve business resilience and even earn valuable income to invest in further infrastructure improvements.
The power of solar and battery Any infrastructure upgrade is likely to take both time and money. In the meantime, there are business needs and net zero targets to be met. Solar and battery storage assets can be deployed to support the grid and maintain business continuity while major upgrades take place. They can be used to reduce power costs and support the grid at peak times.
The option of developing a solar asset of significant scale and pairing it with batteries allows you to harness energy at a local level and help reduce the load on the grid. The current cost of electricity makes the argument for solar stronger than ever. Once installed, solar panels have minimal ongoing maintenance and operating costs, while producing lower cost energy. The bigger the difference in cost between on-site energy production and network supply, the more attractive the solution becomes.
Batteries can be used as a solution to augment a grid connection. If you only have 50% of the required capacity coming into the building, a battery can act like a reservoir to provide the
using battery storage assets to earn revenue from supplying grid services, such as demand side response or even by enabling parked EVs, including fleets, to become virtual power plants.
additional 50%. The battery charges off-peak when electricity is abundant on the grid and prices are low. The stored energy is then deployed when the grid is under stress and unable to supply business demand, which is an effective way to work with a grid connection that might not be wholly adequate to meet business needs.
Financial decisions will come down to the cost of the grid connection and the cost of delays in getting the grid connection, versus the outlay for solar or battery hardware. Though it cannot be overstressed that businesses need to budget for essential grid upgrades now. They need to get a good understanding of the timescales involved in infrastructure upgrades, then they can incorporate plans to install solar and batteries for both short and long-term benefit.
There are options open to every industry sector – not just the EV industry – to support the grid while creating revenue. Some of these involve
EVs as Virtual Power Plants Essentially, EVs include large batteries that are only in use when the vehicle is moving. The idea of using those batteries to support the grid as part of virtual power plants is certainly worth exploring. At present, from a practical perspective, the technology is limited to the relatively small number of vehicles that have the ISO15118 bidirectional (two-way) charging/discharging interface. Emerging vehicle-to-grid (V2G) or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) solutions have the potential to revolutionise how we view the grid, and the whole energy ecosystem. While this may be some way into the future, there are already several options for supporting the grid by switching to on-site assets or reducing consumption at times of grid stress and high prices. Many businesses already adopt such programmes as a useful way of generating additional revenues. It even applies at residential levels as some domestic energy providers have run demand side response events in the UK recently.
Micro changes make a big contribution For residential applications, including EV charging, smart metering is going to play an increasingly important role in how we respond to growing energy demand. Huge infrastructure projects generally garner most interest, but they are also the ones that make people focus on the barriers to electrification. Making smaller changes towards smarter energy use across the whole population would have a huge cumulative impact. Addressing the new energy demand, achieving net zero ambitions, and creating a future-fit energy infrastructure, is going to involve conversations around technology, commercial and behavioural change. These conversations need to happen at governmental, cross-industrial and individual levels. They are going to involve utilities, renewable energy producers, EV manufacturers and EV charging companies coming together with ideas and solutions. More than conversations, however, there needs to be commitment, planning and practical applications to bring it all together.
Continuing the conversation Mer is well placed to be part of the conversation. As we continue to combine state-of-the-art electric vehicle charging with clean energy from our parent company Statkraft, Europe’s largest renewable energy generator, we are in an exciting place to bring new ideas to contribute to the green economy and help fight climate change. One thing is for sure, the next few years are going to be fascinating and transformative.
ewnews.co.uk June 2023 electrical wholesaler | 23
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