Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in London: V2G solutions to enable EV charging and grid services
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Abstract
This PhD seeks to explore various options to facilitate the large EV uptake expected in London, in order to minimise the impact on and costs of infrastructure, while maximising the benefits presented by energy storage. These benefits are both in terms of improving network flexibility by providing services such as demand side response, as well as market opportunities for the customer. The exact arrangement of a vehicle to grid system needs further investigation and demonstration, with the huge potential to be rolled out across other major cities.
Specifically, the objective of this PhD is to evaluate potential approaches to vehicle to grid enabled charging infrastructure in London, including:
- Modelling and analysing vehicle to grid via street charging infrastructure;
- Identifying potential value that managed (or 'smart') charging could create, including ancillary services to the system operator (frequency response, reserve, constraint management), as well as at distribution level (managing voltage, reactive power provision); and
- Exploring the feasibility of 'EV Hubs', consisting of large batteries that combine fast charging of EV's with ancillary services to the grid.
This PhD is relevant and applied, with engagement with three key projects recently awarded Innovate UK funding - E-Flex, V2Street and e4Future. These projects seek to demonstrate a vehicle to grid infrastructure and market and would provide fundamental data, including transport and charging patterns, for modelling and analysis.
Specifically, the objective of this PhD is to evaluate potential approaches to vehicle to grid enabled charging infrastructure in London, including:
- Modelling and analysing vehicle to grid via street charging infrastructure;
- Identifying potential value that managed (or 'smart') charging could create, including ancillary services to the system operator (frequency response, reserve, constraint management), as well as at distribution level (managing voltage, reactive power provision); and
- Exploring the feasibility of 'EV Hubs', consisting of large batteries that combine fast charging of EV's with ancillary services to the grid.
This PhD is relevant and applied, with engagement with three key projects recently awarded Innovate UK funding - E-Flex, V2Street and e4Future. These projects seek to demonstrate a vehicle to grid infrastructure and market and would provide fundamental data, including transport and charging patterns, for modelling and analysis.
Planned Impact
This Centre will train students in the blend of traditional and emerging power network concepts and advances in information and communication technologies, consumer and demand side technologies, and integrated energy systems required to deliver future power networks. This targets the skills challenge in the electrical power networks industry, and the lack of high quality graduates able to deliver the smart grid. The training will deliver doctoral level engineers that are prepared for key technical tasks within the power networks and utility industry, and this is a positive impact for society.
A number of industrial partners have agreed to provide placements in which projects are undertaken with the company and on their premises. This will provide an immediate industrial impact where research concepts, systems and approaches can be delivered as knowledge exchange impact, leading to enhanced performance of the UK power networks industry. Direct engagement with the industrial partners, and their funding of the research programme and strong engagement, will lead to new intellectual property that can be capitalised upon by UK manufacturers (new products), consultancies and service providers (new offerings, analyses, services) and network operators (increased efficiencies and reduced capital and operational expenditure). Overall, this will lead to the impact of reduced energy costs for the UK consumer.
Academic impact will be achieved through the internationally leading and novel research activities planned for the Centre. Extensive links and engagement with leading international academics are being put in place to underpin this.
Society will benefit directly by the CDT helping to elevate the standing of the engineering profession and producing more engineers aware of the implications of their technical work for policy and their wider responsibilities to the public, with a particular emphasis on energy. The CDT's impact on policy will be accentuated by the key roles played by our senior staff in government-industry steering groups such as ETI Strategic Advisory Groups, Ofgem Innovation Working Group, IET Power Networks Joint Vision Group, Scottish Grid and Economics Group, and the Scottish Smart Grid Sector Strategy Group to name a few. Our international links through CIGRE, CIRED, and the IEEE will ensure that our outcomes influence a global community.
Our CDT cohorts, alongside our early career research communities, are central to our ambitions to inspire a generation through impact and engagement. Strategic engagement initiatives, such as Strathclyde's Technology and Innovation Centre, are intended to transform the way in which universities work with industry and communicate effectively with all stakeholders, including the public. The CDT cohort will benefit from interactions within this environment, leading to further uptake of the research among stakeholders.
A number of industrial partners have agreed to provide placements in which projects are undertaken with the company and on their premises. This will provide an immediate industrial impact where research concepts, systems and approaches can be delivered as knowledge exchange impact, leading to enhanced performance of the UK power networks industry. Direct engagement with the industrial partners, and their funding of the research programme and strong engagement, will lead to new intellectual property that can be capitalised upon by UK manufacturers (new products), consultancies and service providers (new offerings, analyses, services) and network operators (increased efficiencies and reduced capital and operational expenditure). Overall, this will lead to the impact of reduced energy costs for the UK consumer.
Academic impact will be achieved through the internationally leading and novel research activities planned for the Centre. Extensive links and engagement with leading international academics are being put in place to underpin this.
Society will benefit directly by the CDT helping to elevate the standing of the engineering profession and producing more engineers aware of the implications of their technical work for policy and their wider responsibilities to the public, with a particular emphasis on energy. The CDT's impact on policy will be accentuated by the key roles played by our senior staff in government-industry steering groups such as ETI Strategic Advisory Groups, Ofgem Innovation Working Group, IET Power Networks Joint Vision Group, Scottish Grid and Economics Group, and the Scottish Smart Grid Sector Strategy Group to name a few. Our international links through CIGRE, CIRED, and the IEEE will ensure that our outcomes influence a global community.
Our CDT cohorts, alongside our early career research communities, are central to our ambitions to inspire a generation through impact and engagement. Strategic engagement initiatives, such as Strathclyde's Technology and Innovation Centre, are intended to transform the way in which universities work with industry and communicate effectively with all stakeholders, including the public. The CDT cohort will benefit from interactions within this environment, leading to further uptake of the research among stakeholders.