EV strategy highlights key issue for the grid

Energy Networks Australia (ENA) has praised the release of the federal government’s National Electric Vehicle Strategy, which it says brings a welcome national focus to a fundamental issue for customers and the grid.

A critical next step, ENA said, would be the development of consistent policies to ensure that mass adoption of EVs occurs in a way that maximises benefits to customers while ensuring the grid can cope with the additional demand.

ENA Acting CEO Garth Crawford said if charging behaviours were properly managed to avoid adding too much additional load to peak grid demand, then EVs could help drive down electricity bills.

“Electricity networks are built and paid for through household and business energy bills to meet demand at peak times,” he said.

“Mass adoption of EVs will be a major new load on the power system that will significantly increase this demand unless we effectively manage how vehicles are charged.”

For cost savings and grid benefits to customers to be maximised, Crawford advocated for smart EV charging and pricing reform. He said this would encourage and reward efficient charging behaviour and provide flexible electricity pricing for customers to make power supply cheaper when it is plentiful — for example, during the day to soak up solar generation.

Crawford said the right policy settings would avoid the need for more expensive upgrades of electricity infrastructure and deliver major savings for customers on household energy bills while supporting grid security and reliability.

“Energy networks are a critical enabler of the uptake of EVs. They offer exciting opportunities for customers, the environment and power system support,” he said.

“Networks throughout the country are operating innovative programs to support customer EV uptake and the electricity grid, including several trials examining how to best manage home EV charging while maintaining grid stability.”

Image credit: iStock.com/Patrick Cooper