Electric vehicles (EVs) are increasingly being deployed to solve challenges of air pollution, rising fuel prices and global warming, but also to assist electricity grids as distributed energy sources, making use of large battery packs for more than just mobility.
E-mobility company Next Dimension MD Bjoern Chirstensen says EV batteries can support a multitude of energy applications, including driving, vehicle-to-home power, frequency regulation (as done in Denmark), peak and off-peak arbitration, vehicle-to-load such as power tools, vehicle-to-vehicle power and, importantly for South Africa, load-shedding mitigation.
Notably, he adds that vehicle-to-grid (V2G) is a well-proven technology, with more than 300 000 fleet hours having been operated in Denmark.
V2G is a system in which EVs connect to a power grid and transfer energy from the vehicle back into the network.
Africa’s second and largest V2G installation is based in Namibia, which produces more than 200 000 kWh/y.
Power management organisation Eaton Electrical Sector MD Seydou Kane notes that the world is at an important junction – transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy and increasing electrification and digitalisation.
He says power demand is expected to increase by 65% over 2018 to 2050 and with that comes the need for electrical infrastructure and its risk-cognisant management.
The increase in renewable energy generation capacity worldwide requires a rethinking of the energy system.
Eaton, for one, believes in the “everything as a grid” approach. The company says the future of energy lies in distributed energy and bidirectional flows of energies, as well as the requirement of intelligent systems to increase efficiency and optimise energy use.
For example, this involves industry selling electricity back to the operator.
Eaton has a particular focus on buildings – homes or commercial buildings – and considers them to be energy hubs, which can be powered using EVs.
Kane says that, where infrastructure in Africa is aging, V2G in the use of buildings provides an opportunity for modernisation and reducing carbon footprints.
He adds that, with at least 30 African countries facing regular blackouts, EV charging infrastructure can be a central component of the energy transition.
Kane says it is possible for African countries to leapfrog in terms of technology use, but challenges around EV infrastructure and reaching critical mass, legislation and regulation, including common standards, end-of-life of systems and the disposal of batteries and urban planning that is decoupled with energy planning, are still challenges that need to be overcome.
Unpacking the lack of electrical infrastructure on the continent, Kane mentions that the power required for an EV owner may not come from the grid. He suggests that EV drivers need to think about other opportunities for charging their vehicles.
“Most grids in Africa are government-owned and most of them are broke. It is only when original-equipment manufacturers see a market and private money gets into the system that we will start to rethink business models.
“It is no use waiting for government to put in all the EV infrastructure,” Kane states.
Christensen and Kane were part of a V2G webinar hosted by the South African Energy Storage Association on November 5.