Solutions needed as EVs put pressure on electricity grids

The rising number of electric vehicles (EVs) entering the European market is putting pressure on electricity infrastructure capacity, raising concerns over its ability to accommodate demand.


A European consortium, tasked with tackling this problem, has begun an EU-funded project to develop modelling and simulation tools for a smooth integration of EVs into Europe’s electricity grids.

The project, called Novel E-Mobility Grid Model (NEMO), aims to play a key role in the further development of electric mobility in Europe and will be an important element in the future development of smart grids.

In addition to supporting the European grid operators and service providers in assessing the impact of EVs on the power grid, the project will also evaluate possible solutions such as grid extension or load management.

The consortium consists of the companies DNV KEMA, Fraunhofer ISE, Electro-Motive International, RAH and RFVV and the project was commissioned by the European Union’s ERA-NET Plus initiative, Electromobility+.

The tools will be designed to address both market-orientated and technical problems that could arise from the predicted influx of EVs on to the electricity grid.

NEMO project coordinator at DNV KEMA Dr Martijn Huibers said: “Our three tools will be further extended and integrated into one single tool suite to assess the impact of a large volume of EVs on both the electricity network and energy markets in its entirety.

“The combined project team will be able to offer cooperative services that none of the partners could offer individually.”

Three case studies will be used to assess the key issues of EV integration into electricity networks.

The first will demonstrate the use of NEMO tools for power grid planning in terms of matching distributed generation (DG) and charging of EVs.

The second study will concentrate on applying the NEMO tool suite to fast charging scenarios, and the third investigation will focus on the development of approaches to help power grid operators solve problems linked to abnormal charging situations.

Conor McGlone

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