Electric cars run the risk of putting a huge strain on the electricity system
It took just over a year to double the number of electric cars in Denmark from 100,000 to 200,000, according to the Danish Car Importers Association’s calculation.
It seems that the integration of the 200,000 electric cars into the electricity system went well on the whole. But were they actually integrated into the power system? Or are electric cars, seen from the perspective of the electricity system, just another burden?
Electric cars have great potential to play an active role in balancing the electricity system of the future. It just does not seem like we are realising their full potential.
While electric car sales promise a relatively quick replacement of the car fleet, and charging stations are being set up at an unprecedented pace, a fundamental piece of the future energy system is being created at the same time.
Charging stations are an important piece of the puzzle
That piece has great significance for how the rest of the system can be designed. Just like in a puzzle piece, it is the point where the electric car is connected to the rest of the electricity system, i.e. it is the charging station and the surrounding framework, which is absolutely decisive.
I am far from the first to find the framework around charging electric cars to be immature.
“Consumers have to be able to keep their charging box when they change service providers and other services associated with the charging box,” reads the Danish Competition Council’s recommendation number 3 out of 7 to strengthen competition in the market for charging electric cars.
It is these other services—for example, the charging box’s ability to support the delivery of, among other things, ancillary services to Energinet—that are so essential for the electric cars’ potential to be brought into play.
Can you wait a 15 minutes to charge your car?
In short, the provision of the relevant types of ancillary services means supporting the balance between electricity production and electricity consumption in the electricity system at all times.
For an electric car, it is about being able to increase or decrease the electricity consumption a bit, depending on the balance in the electricity system. Most people know that electricity prices fluctuate from hour to hour, and that those prices are known the day before.
The electricity market for ancillary services is somewhat different. Here, there is less time to react, and a query that a private charging station can respond to, of course fully automated, could for example read:
- Can you stop charging for 15 minutes and then take a break for an hour? Or
- Can you stop charging after a few seconds and just wait a few minutes before starting again?
The ancillary services have a value and are traded on a market, so that Energinet can always find the cheapest way to achieve balance in the electricity system. Energinet also pays for the promise to respond if the need arises.
There are many details, but it is not something that the individual consumer needs to familiarise themselves with. It is usually the charging operator who manages the task of optimising the delivery of ancillary services from the charging station and contributing to balancing the power grid.
If you, as a private individual, otherwise chose a charging solution that supports it.
Opaque charging solutions
Today, there are charging solutions that actively contribute to balancing the electricity system, so they are on the market. Unfortunately, it is quite opaque what kind of charging stations and complete charging solutions are capable of providing ancillary services or, for example, relieving the local power grid, should it become relevant.
Private consumers therefore risk unknowingly missing out on the gains that could be realised now and in the future. As the Competition Council points out, it is also cumbersome to change the charging solution.
The absence of any kind of minimum requirements or even information about the ability of charging stations to be an active part of the energy system creates a risk of charging solutions that cannot help balance the electricity system being rolled out.
Then other power consumers or producers have to be the ones to react. It could be anything from large, individual batteries to electrolysis plants that then miss out on hydrogen production.
It can probably be done, but is it the cheapest option? How much money does one really need to get in order to postpone changing one’s electric car for 15 minutes?
Often, knowing whether a portion of electric cars can and will react if an urgent need arises is enough to ensure a much better framework for developing effective solutions in every area from grid planning to power system operations. If they cannot do that, the rest of the electricity system, the power grid, electricity production capacity, etc. must be designed while keeping in mind the risk of the vast majority of people charging their electric car at the same time.
Electric cars can thus either become an important part of the electricity system or a huge challenge.
Electricity system of the future calls for flexibility
Charging a single electric car is not a big challenge. It went well with the first 200,000.
But what when it gets to a million?
We are past the point where green technologies are something we integrate into a black energy system. We need the framework for the individual components of the energy system to be mature enough for the solutions that are rolled out today to work all the way through the green transition.
In both “Security of Electricity Supply Report 2023” and “Outlook for Ancillary Services 2023-2040”, Energinet shows that the electricity system of the future needs consumption or production that can largely adapt to production from wind turbines and solar panels.
It is difficult to predict exactly what total value there is in all the types of support for the electricity system that electric cars can theoretically provide.
But one thing is certain: if the charging solutions do not support external control or the consumer is locked into solutions where it cannot be chosen later, then the value will not be realised.
In “Driving Towards Grid Balance”, Energinet presents a proposal for a technical architecture that meets the outlined challenges and is happy to engage in further dialogue on this.
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