Call for Papers
Full paper submission for CIRED Porto Workshop 2022 is now closed. Selected authors will be notified by 25 March 2022.
Full paper submission for CIRED Porto Workshop 2022 is now closed. Selected authors will be notified by 25 March 2022.
The energy transition and technological evolution are driving the growth of E-mobility – including cars, buses, intercity coaches, scooters, trucks, aircraft, and ships – substituting fossil energy with green, renewable electrical energy. This significant change also creates new challenges to the electrical energy distribution systems.
Electrical vehicle (EV) charging may impose a substantial power demand on existing LV and MV networks, which were not planned for this purpose. The electricity distribution networks will have to satisfy this new demand while maintaining its reliability and power quality.
By 2030, it is anticipated that 50-70 million EVs will circulate in the EU, resulting in network investment requirements exceeding €25bn. Furthermore, following similar initiatives from many countries around the world, the European Commission has proposed in July 2021 an effective ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035, which might result in an even faster e-mobility adoption.
The influx of E-mobility may require a significant increase in network investments, but these can be reduced and optimized through a combination of new load management tools, including smart charging, nomadic portable charging stations, automation, and demand flexibility. The deployment of such tools requires new business models and regulatory frameworks. Digitalisation will also become an indispensable driver to pave the way E-mobility, making it seamless and more efficient.
Furthermore, Electric vehicles themselves can be active asset of distribution system, as mobile/nomadic storage units, being able to contribute to the deployment of flexibility mechanisms and vehicle-to-grid power exchanger, that can assist operation of electrical power systems and contribute to increase the hosting capacity of renewable generation, supporting a more resilient, renewable-based electrical system.
EV take-up has led to changes in power demand profiles and an increase in charging points; this will drive the need to reinforce distribution systems and enhance the management of network loading within existing capabilities, prior to any reinforcement. New power distribution systems planning methodologies, moving beyond fit-and-forget and incorporating the usage of smart charging and flexibility mechanisms are under development and testing in many regions. Data analytics techniques, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, can provide new methods for detailed planning studies. These techniques can make use of real-time information on the consumption of energy in its different forms, on the traffic flows, on changes in social habits, on city economy, on geography and orography, etc.
E-mobility deployment require special components and technical solutions to cope with fast increasing demand, to integrate charging points and widespread e-mobility, while meeting high quality levels of service continuity and resiliency.
The use of demand flexibility and smart charging principles are alternatives to substantial network reinforcements, when integrating E-mobility. Such solutions must be supported through appropriate business models, that provide the correct incentives for actors offering flexibility and smart charging, and of the development of regulatory frameworks that would maximize the value accrued from these solutions, optimizing the total cost to the grid customers. Smart grids and demand response technologies rely on vast quantities of consumer-specific, real-time electricity usage data. Viewed from an overall systems perspective, policy makers might consider that there is a wide public interest in making aggregate data publicly available, but at the same time they must also consider the privacy concerns of their constituents. An appropriate balance between consumers’ privacy concerns and the operational needs of utilities and new market players should be found by using appropriate data management techniques to foster demand response, customer engagements and local markets.