Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) is to rollout electric vehicle and demand monitors after testing of the low cost monitors was completed.
Over 200 low voltage substation monitors have been installed and tested over the past two years, designed to gather data on levels of demand and electric vehicle uptake.
The monitors are now being rolled out across SSEN’s networks in central southern England the north of Scotland to gain greater visibility of the low voltage network in a business-as-usual environment.
Across networks where a high level of demand and EV uptake has been indicated, 345 units are to be installed.
And in the run up to April 2020, 500 more monitors are to be installed across SSEN’s licence areas, 100 of which will contribute towards smart-grid trial Project LEO.
The monitors provide near real-time visibility and historical data, allowing SSEN to view the electricity demand on a secondary substation. They also allow the DNO to have alarms generated when a network nears its limits, identify the best way to optimise capacity on a network, monitor power quality and understand imbalance and losses. It will also help SSEN to better prioritise investment in networks.
SSEN worked with equipment providers Eneida and Lucy Electric during the two year test, which aimed to prove that using low cost monitors didn’t equate to a reduction in data quality. The project found that the monitors, which had a 70% reduction in cost compared to those used in previous innovation projects, met all requirements for data accuracy and performance.
Richard Hartshorn, EV readiness manager at SSEN, said: “This is a key part of our drive to support EV uptake by assessing networks where we are seeing high levels of uptake. In turn, this helps to support more efficient connections, which can be achieved through the increased visibility and analysis of historical data.”
SSEN isn’t the only DNO to become concerned with the viability of EV uptake, with fellow Scottish DNO SP Energy Networks announcing a tool for modelling the uptake of EVs earlier this week.
It comes after a Western Power Distribution (WPD) study in collaboration with ElectraLink and IBM revealed around 15,000 EVs and other distributed energy sources that were previously unknown to WPD.