A team, led by a Reader in Electrical Power Engineering at Northumbria University, Dr Ghanim Putrus, has developed a new tool to predict the impact that will occur with the increased use of electric vehicles (EVs) on the national power grid.
Dr Ghanim Putrus and his team has developed a new tool to predict and prepare for the increased use of electric vehicles.
Northumbria University has collaborated with the government’s ‘Charge your Car program’ to develop a grid capacity calculator. The Charge your Car program is now involved in the installation of EV charging points throughout North East England.
The North East England is a low carbon economic area (LCEA) and the government has planned to take various measures to support EVs in the region, including the deployment of 1,000 charging points by 2013. Such initiatives are expected to encourage a large number of people to purchase electric cars. This will lead to additional pressure on the grid or electrical distribution network due to simultaneous charging of EVs by multiple users. Hence, it is essential to plan cautiously to reduce the pressure on the power network.
Evaluation of the impact on the grid will become highly difficult and complex, when the greater use of electric cars is combined with the anticipated increase in other low carbon technologies like heat pumps and micro-generators.
However, the new user-friendly device will help network operators, developers and policy-makers to assess the impact of EVs in the presence of other technologies and will help develop the infrastructure for electric cars. In addition, it will help to decrease carbon emissions and enhance energy efficiency. The grid capacity calculator can be used in all regions.
Putrus team is now discussing with Charge your Car to further enhance the tool to analyze ‘smart charging’ of EVs.