Western Power Distribution (WPD), Electricity North West Limited (ENWL) and engineering consultancy Ricardo have joined forces to develop and trial a rapid EV charging solution.
The DC Share project aims to create a novel solution that shares capacity across existing AC electricity distribution network substations, thereby enabling increased numbers of high-power EV chargers to be connected to the network at lower cost.
DC Share has been awarded funding by the UK energy market regulator Ofgem (the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets) through the Network Innovation Competition Project.
A major aim of the project is to use latent capacity in distribution networks, which is reportedly difficult to access using conventional means. Thus, DC Share will trial a novel approach to supplying rapid charging hubs, using power electronics to extract power from existing substations and distributing this to rapid EV charge points via a new high capacity DC cable network.
According to Ricardo, the location of the rapid chargers will be an important factor in the successful widespread uptake of EVs and should be dictated by user requirements, rather than network constraints.
“To ensure charger availability for multiple users, rapid chargers are expected to be deployed in hubs, meaning that significant amounts of power will be needed in one location. While an existing substation might be able to connect one or two rapid chargers, if they are required at scale, network reinforcement is likely to be needed,” said Ricardo in a statement.
DC Share will facilitate the connection of rapid charging facilities in locations where they are required by users, using latent capacity in the surrounding networks to minimise the cost of connection.
The trial will explore the comparative benefits of a DC network, where power flows can be actively managed, and fault level contained, over the conventional approach of AC network reinforcement.
DC Share will lay a new high-capacity DC equalisation cable network, which balances demands so that transformers experiencing heavy demand receive support from those that are more lightly loaded. This approach reportedly enables uncertainty in demand to be managed more effectively, optimising power flows in real time to react as needed.
The project partners comprise Ricardo, whose energy team will lend its expertise in implementing smart grid solutions; WPD, which will be the funding licensee; ENWL; Turbo Power Systems, who will develop substation converters and rapid chargers; and Vectos, which will provide charger planning support.
Jonathan Berry, innovation manager at WPD, said: “The need to facilitate fast and rapid electric vehicle charging has never been more prevalent.
“New technologies and solutions need to be developed to deliver on-street charging solutions, as over 40% of people don’t have access to off-street parking, which in turn helps to support the UK’s net-zero 2050 targets.
“The DC Share project will offer a revolutionary solution, using DC to interconnect traditional AC assets. This will maximise the utilisation of these existing assets and take advantage of the diversity between them in a manner that has not previously been possible.”
