Challenge
EU electricity demand for Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) is increasing from 9TWh in 2021 to 165TWh in 2030. At the same time, sustainable energy supply increases. This yearly requires € 69 billions of grid reinforcement investments. To limit these investments, experiments started with ‘smart charging hubs’ balancing the grid: a combination of sustainable (local) energy generation and storage (batteries, Vehicle to Grid). This provides an opportunity for businesses. However, innovations in this domain do not develop fast enough to market and integrating them in one system is challenging. Demand and technology for smart charging hub solutions are latent (public authorities do not tender for it) and the business case is unproven.
Support to develop solutions
The ’Super Smart Charging Hubs’ project will address this challenge by supporting at least 25 SMEs to develop innovative solutions for these hubs and taking away / align regulatory hurdles, leading to new products and services. This will result in more charging infrastructure and a reduced need for energy grid investments by operators and society. Three Super Smart Charging Hubs Living Labs will be created to support this.
What is a Super Smart Charging Hub
A SSCH is an energy system where sustainable energy is generated and used locally for charging multiple (25–50) BEVs and to balance the grid (V2Grid, V2Battery or V2Building and vice versa). It includes a ‘virtual power plant’ that aggregates energy within a portfolio. This does not require all assets / components of a system to be geographically close. By adding a virtual layer, components of the portfolio exchange energy.
The combination of these elements is not yet proven and regulation and tariffication is different across the regions. Transnational cooperation is needed to showcase the Super Smart Charging Hubs-solution in the NSR countries to companies (especially for the business case), public authorities and grid operators (for solving grid congestion) and end-users (ease of use). This will kickstart the uptake of the solution by companies.