Value quantification of electric vehicle response on network investment in the UK

Abstract

Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming a significant element in the electricity system to help meet the environmental targets and can aid the network operator to shift the peak demand in the future. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the future economic impacts resulting from the increasing EV penetration to the national network. However, the potential contribution of EVs to network investment is difficult to quantify. Although we can measure the reduced capacity during peak demand for a specified low voltage network, it is difficult to quantify the impact at the national level. This paper uses a typical LV network to analyze the investment savings at this voltage level and extrapolates the results to cover the entire UK network by considering the coincidence factor, peak shaving percentage etc. From the demonstration, it can be concluded that semi-urban areas and low voltage networks will have the greatest benefit from a reduction in required investment compared with other areas and voltage levels.