The National Grid has said that the increase popularity of electric vehicles could result in an increased peak load on the country’s infrastructure of between 5 and 8GW by 2030.
The infrastructure operator this week released its annual Future Energy Scenarios report, outlining its expectations for the future. The report expects that the number of electric vehicles on the UK’s road could grow to 11 million by 2030 and 36 million by 2050.
Last year, the government announced plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2040 to help reduce air pollution and meet carbon emission reduction targets of 80% on 1990 levels by 2050.
Under scenarios which envisage Britain meeting its 2050 carbon reduction target, the National Grid says that additional peak electricity demand could be between 5 and 8.1 gigawatts by 2030, representing a 9% to 14% rise from 2017 peak electricity demand in Britain of 57GW.
The National Grid says that its estimates take into account residential and non-residential charging and depend on the use of smart charging tech, topping up EVs at off-peak times.
It also says that after 2030, vehicle-to-grid technology will help electric vehicles power households and should help reduce additional peak power demand further.
‘Through smart charging and vehicle-to-grid technologies, this year’s analysis reveals electric vehicles will be able to support the continued growth in renewables by storing excess generation and releasing it back onto the network when it is needed,’ the report continued.
Greenpeace’s chief scientist Doug Parr has argued that the government needs to move quicker on the introduction of electric vehicles: ‘The government has been warned twice in the past two weeks by its infrastructure and climate advisors that it needs to move faster on renewables and electric vehicles to meet carbon targets,’ he said.
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