Electric Vehicle Charging Stressing the Grid

On January 11th, a polar vortex caused the average temperature across the province of Alberta to be -31°C. On that day, the province set an all-time record for electricity use of 12,384 megawatts. With the stress on the grid, the Alberta Energy System Operator asked consumers to reduce electricity use, and one of the electricity conservation tips is to delay charges of electric vehicles.

The increasing electricity demand for vehicles, alongside the transition of switching from gas to electric heat pumps imposed stress on the current grid. With Canada’s plan to achieve a net-zero grid by 2035, modeling shows that more than $400 billion is needed to replace and update the electricity grid. Power shortages for EVs are universally prominent. In Spain, nearly half of the 1,600 Repsol’s EV charging stations have no power connection. In Germany, grid connections for EV charging points can take up to 18 months to set up because of a lack of grid capacity. 

Photo credit: Ernest Ojeh, Unsplash

For EVs to be clean, it is essential to have clean energy sources; in British Columbia, as of 2022, 85.94% of the electricity is generated with hydro. For the first time in 15 years, BC Hydro issued a request for proposals to acquire approximately 3,000 gigawatt hours per year of electricity, which will add 5% to its current supply, moreover, it is seeking renewable projects only.

Besides bringing additional energy supply to the grid, the vehicle-to-grid bidirectional charging program also allows electric vehicle batteries to supply the grid by discharging when the demand is high. Such a program is evaluated to be beneficial to EVs in terms of battery degradation, as batteries degrade more quickly when fully charged when compared to being at a lower stage of charge. Canada’s first pilot vehicle-to-grid project was tested in December 2023, using a 60-kilowatt charger connecting a Lion Electric school bus from Lynch Bus Lines to the grid. The power from the single school bus is capable of powering 24 single-family, electricity-heated homes for two hours. The integration of vehicle-to-grid technology can allow Canada to better manage electricity demand by enhancing grid resilience.