The study will complement a parallel national study that both organisations are cooperating in along with the Ford Motor Company. EPRI will conduct a comprehensive study to assess the energy, environmental and wholesale market electricity price impacts of PHEVs in New York State. Of particular interest is the impact on downstate, metropolitan New York grids due to the concentrated electric demand and vehicle population. It is anticipated that the study will illuminate the implications of, and help plan for, the increased-market penetration of PHEVs.
Francis J. Murray, Jr., NYSERDA President and CEO said this effort comes at a crucial time: “This study will offer insight into the supply-side of the market where capacity is necessary to achieve wide public acceptance of these vehicles. Gov. David Paterson has called for advancing battery technology in New York and specifically, PHEVs as a way to reduce our use of fossil fuel and complement grid usage. PHEVs can serve as a high-value customer for wind power by recharging overnight when demand and rates are low, and wind power is most plentiful,” he said.
PHEV technologies allow vehicles to plug into the electric grid to charge their high-capacity batteries and allow the vehicle’s electric motor to do more of the work during the drive cycle, and thereby reduce the gasoline engine’s workload. They are capable of achieving very high fuel economy, in some cases exceeding 100 miles per gallon of gasoline, at a reduced vehicle fuelling cost and with reduced atmospheric emissions. As PHEV penetration levels increase, the aggregated impact on the grid and associated emissions could be substantial. While the implications of increased penetration of PHEVs have been studied generally at a national level and in several more localised regions, the specific impact on New York State has not yet been fully understood.
Four items will be addressed: 1) identification of the ‘base-case’ scenario of transmission/distribution capacity, assuming no PHEV penetration; 2) identification of several realistic PHEV penetration scenarios, including vehicle characteristics and required load support; 3) identification of grid, environmental, and financial impacts of the various penetration scenarios; and 4) implications of vehicle-to-grid (“V2G” or reverse charging) applications, also known as utility aggregated load control.
"Our analysis will develop the definitive assessment of the impact of both introducing and the widespread use of PHEVs onto the transmission and distribution systems,” said Arshad Mansoor, vice president of Power Delivery and Utilization at EPRI. “This grid assessment is another crucial step that will lead to commercialization of PHEVs, and NYSERDA deserves a lot of credit for taking this important initiative.”
Future Ford PHEV's will “talk” to the power grid
In parallel with the grid impact study, NYSERDA is partnering with EPRI and Ford Motor Company to test a Ford PHEV prototype. Over the course of this project, which is slated to run into 2012, various components onboard the prototype will be revised to test various technical options, including vehicle–to-grid (V2G) capabilities.
Power grids are sensitive beasts which are prone to collapse if demand peaks too quickly. Smart grids and variable pricing are being developed to mitigate this problem, although the power grid could be subject to major strains in the future as more and more electric vehicles are connected to the grid to charge up. Ford hopes to ease this strain through its upcoming hybrid electric vehicles – including the 2012 PHEV Escape, 2010 Transit Connect commercial van, and battery electric 2011 Ford Focus – which can "talk" to the electric grid via wirelessly connected smart meters.
Thank to collaborations with multiple utility partners (and a $30 million DOE grant for grid integration), these vehicles will enable drivers to use the in-dash navigational computer to decide when vehicles should recharge, for how long, and at what utility rate. For example, a driver could choose to charge their car in the middle of the night to reduce strain on the grid and benefit from lower electricity prices.
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