Managing EVs in Australian Urban and Rural Grids

The adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) poses technical and economic challenges for our power grid. Electricity distribution networks were not designed with a high penetration of electric vehicles in mind. Charging EVs at home can significantly increase our normal demand, affecting the poles and wires. Nonetheless, if EV charging is managed well, it could mean more efficient networks, leading to lower prices and better outcomes for energy consumers. 

Mitigating the effects of mass EV integration into existing power systems is a complex but not impossible task. However, whether it is by directly managing the EV charging points or by persuading EV users to charge at different times, it is important for distribution companies to understand the extent of the benefits of potential EV management solutions.

The Webinar will cover:

The results from studies that simulate the control of EV charging points at homes as well as the use of time-of-use tariffs in both urban and rural areas. The studies were carried out as part of the project "EV Integration" funded by Energy Networks Australia (ENA) and the Centre for New Energy Technologies (C4NET). The assessment involves fully modelled HV (22kV and 11kV) feeders, and pseudo low voltage (0.4kV) networks to capture the effects close to end users, time-series analyses, and rapid adoption of EVs

Speakers

Luis (Nando) Ochoa

Luis (Nando) Ochoa is a Professor of Smart Grids and Power Systems at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and Chief Scientist & Co-Founder at VoltMind. His expertise in network integration of distributed energy resources and smart grids as well as his extensive portfolio of industrial and academic projects have led to 210+ research papers, 80+ technical reports, and two patents

Jing Zhu

Jing Zhu is a third-year PhD candidate at The University of Melbourne, and her PhD project is “EV and V2G Management Opportunities in Future Distribution Networks”. Before pursuing her PhD, she worked as a control room operator in the State Grid Corporation of China for three years. She received a B.Eng. degree in Electrical Engineering from The University of Manchester, UK, and North China Electric Power University, China in 2018 

Dr. William Nacmanson

Dr William Nacmanson is an engineer at Essential Energy working on bulk distribution model production techniques, automating bulk network analysis, and developing new tools for the business to boost efficiency. Previously William worked at the University of Melbourne as a Research Fellow with Professor Nando Ochoa on EV and PV integration, particularly in investigating EV hosting capacity and the effectiveness of solutions such as time-of-use tariffs