The UK’s OpenLV project is opening up local electricity usage data to provide network operators with much needed information about levels of capacity for charging EVs on local electricity networks.
Such data will complement other initiatives to assist the increased take up of EVs such as smart charging, vehicle to grid technology and energy storage, the promoters claim.
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For electric vehicles to continue with their increasing rates of predicted uptake, the challenge of local electricity network capacity at peak times needs to be overcome, and this new initiative is set to aid this situation.
Currently, electricity network operators don’t have enough information about how much spare capacity there is on local electricity networks. This makes it difficult to know whether a cluster of EVs charging at peak times will push the demand over the limit. The OpenLV project will, for the first time, open up data from local substations, so that Distribution Network Operators (DNOs), and third parties such as businesses and academia, will have more information about whether networks can cope with rising EV numbers.
If the data highlights a potential capacity issue, then other initiatives could be implemented – such as smart charging, vehicle to grid technology, energy storage, or joining networks together – in preference to more costly and disruptive infrastructure reinforcement works.
The OpenLV project is led by project partners Western Power Distribution and EA Technology.
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By GlobalDataMark Dale, innovation manager, Western Power Distribution, said: “The OpenLV project is making local electricity network data ‘open access’ for the first ever time. This presents a great opportunity for smart thinking and innovation. We’re inviting people, ranging from community groups to industry stakeholders, to come up with novel ideas for apps that can make use of this data.”
Richard Potter, EA Technology’s OpenLV project manager, said: “We’re at an exciting point where different sectors such as automotive, energy and IT have opportunities to come together to help the UK move towards a smart electricity grid. Innovative ideas about apps that could offer people benefits are welcomed from all sectors, as well as from the energy industry itself.”
