INESC Porto is the scientific manager of MERGE and after completing its first year, Project MERGE (Mobile Energy Resources for Grids of Electricity) made a positive impression on the European Commission during its last evaluation. The high volume of material produced during this period must be highlighted along with the partners’ remarkable ability to respond to the necessary issues.

INESC Porto takes an important step in expanding the use of the electric car

Integrating electric cars will soon be a reality

The great effort made by the consortium in evaluating the impact of the development of electric mobility in electric systems in countries such as Portugal, Spain, Greece, the UK and Germany should be emphasised. Furthermore, the electrochemical and automobile industries have identified definite solutions to building different types of batteries for electric vehicles. The development of advanced interfaces that link the electric vehicle’s battery to the electricity network now have the ability to respond locally and communicate with high level management systems. This allows for controlled and intelligent battery charging. The charge control and management strategies proposed were subsequently incorporated into various tools to analyse the electrical energy systems. The aim was to assess the impact that the battery charging could have on the different segments of electrical systems: Distribution, Transport and Production.    

Studies looking at the impact of electric mobility on the functioning of the dynamic electric system must also be highlighted. The aim of this study was to assess the electric car’s contribution to primary, secondary and tertiary frequency control and explore the flexibility of controlling the electric vehicle’s charge to allow for the possibility of incorporating larger quantities of renewable energy, with variable characteristics, into the grid without compromising the robustness of the system. This greatly pleased the evaluating commission. 

International cooperation is key

João Peças Lopes is the Scientific Project manager of this two-year project and it is clear that it requires close interaction with project partners to create synergies and ensure that all participants are working towards a common objective. Mauro Rosa, from INESC Porto’s Power Systems Unit (USE) and the project manager, emphasised that INESC Porto’s interaction with other companies and research centres has been positive and highlights the participation of the automobile company RICARDO as an example. “RICARDO’s ability to respond has really helped the project and all partners involved are learning and sharing experiences”, he claims. 

“Another important part of the project for the TSOs (Transmission System Operator) and DSOs (Distribution System Operator) involved in the project, including Iberdrola, REE - Red Eléctrica de España (Spain), REN - Rede Eléctrica Nacional and PCC – Grid Operator (Greece), is assessing the impact that the vehicles will have on the electric operating systems in the near future”, he adds.

The challenge: Preparing the Electrical Networks

MERGE is the largest electric mobility research project with EU funding and aims to prepare the European electrical system for the mass introduction of electric automobiles. The project’s budget is 4.5 million Euros and the main objective is to find solutions that allow the existing infrastructure to be used in the electric system, thus minimising the need to strengthen it and avoiding extra costs that would have to be covered by electric vehicle users. This is a key challenge for the development of the concept.

The need to reduce polluting gas emissions and address the future shortage of oil should lead to the mass introduction of electric vehicles. Subsequently, the introduction of this new element of consumption into our daily lives means that solutions will need to be found to prepare the electrical grid for this change.

An “intelligent” system is the solution

The viability of this new mobility paradigm rests on the idea of nocturnal battery charging. This is the period when the grid is less active. The idea of charging the battery when renewable energy becomes available for the production of electricity is also key. As the scientific leader of Project MERGE, INESC Porto is helping develop an “intelligent” system for the market that can adapt battery charging according to the availability of energy resources and taking into consideration the technical limits of the grid’s infrastructure and the characteristics of the European electric systems.

Eventual congestion in the grid and difficulties for production centres in meeting the increase in the consumption of energy (that could be a result of the vehicles being connected to the grid) are the challenges for this new paradigm. A cold winter’s evening is a good example: the public street lighting is turned on earlier and in homes lighting, heating, the television and cooking appliances are all being used. If at this time the drivers of electric vehicles arriving home from work were to connect their cars to charge the battery, this could mean that the system was not able to meet all of the electricity consumption requirements.

MERGE looks to renewable energy to charge electric vehicles
This is exactly the situation that MERGE hopes to resolve and at the same time make the implementation of an infrastructure that can supply electricity for electric vehicles in Europe economically viable. One area of research is reducing the need to invest in reinforcing the infrastructure of the existing electricity grid and the electrical power plant. The idea is to avoid costs that would have to be covered by electric vehicle users. Maximising the use of renewable energy to charge the batteries of electric vehicles is another of the project’s objectives.

This new paradigm will lead to the emergence of new business models in the energy market: rapid replacement/charging of batteries (in special service stations that will need to be built to serve the new electric cars) and the slow controlled or uncontrolled charging of batteries (in streets, public or private parks in commercial areas or areas owned by companies, garages in apartment buildings and private garages). 

Portugal leads the way for renewable energy

Due to the high level of renewable energy used in the Portugal, the electricity system can ensure the production of more electricity from “green” energy sources. Therefore, in Portugal the electric vehicles can be more environmentally friendly than in other countries, such as countries in central Europe where they are strongly dependent on fossil fuels for electricity production. By 2025 the wind power in Portugal could reach 9000MW (it currently generates over 4000MW).

MERGE is the largest research project within the Seventh Framework Programme (2007-2013). The project consortium for assessing the impact of large-scale use of electric vehicles on the electric systems in Europe involves 16 European companies (including the Portuguese electrical company REN), R&DT institutes and MIT (USA).

Have your say

Mauro Rosa, USE
Without a doubt the first year was very intense. However, that fact that we were able to complete the preliminary studies and adapt the tools for analysis was pleasing as these were the initial challenges. Some of the preliminary results can already be seen and articles have already been published to show the scientific community the progress we are making in this area. Therefore, we can say that this first year went very well. However, this means that the challenge has increased for next year.

Carlos Tejerina, Distribution Network Planning at Iberdrola         
Have the tools developed in conjunction with INESC Porto met with your expectations?

We will see in 12 months time. The project will be completed in 2012 but for now we have high expectations. We believe that we can learn how to integrate the electric vehicle into the distribution network; this is the part that involves my company.

Describe the relationship between your company and INESC Porto.

We have a successful and close relationship with INESC Porto. We are working together with enthusiasm and plenty of communication. The institute works very well and has great professionals, principally when it comes to developing tools and performing studies.

What is the potential economic and ecologic impact of the project?

The project itself is very thorough. It consists of six areas and we are more involved in the research area. Other areas have to worry about how they are going to incorporate everything that we have studied into the future development of the electric car. This includes their ecological advantages; that they will use lower levels of fossil fuels; they will offer a higher return and use more renewable energy. I believe that in the future the electric car will help reduce our reliance on other energy sources such as petrol because it will look to renewable energy sources and more efficient energy consumption.    

What type of innovation can this tool developed by INESC Porto bring to your company?

The data analysis tools are the most important element that INESC Porto is offering us. As an electricity company we can provide network data such as failure rate, consumers profiles and INESC Porto can then use this data and with their innovate tools analyse the impact of electric vehicles on our current electric grid. The most interesting part for us is the consumption rates of electric cars and what impact this consumption level could have on the grid when added to current consumption levels.

Belén Diaz-Guerra, Network Planning Department at REE (Spain) 

Have the tools developed in conjunction with INESC Porto met with your expectations?

Within the project we are seeing technical and professional plans. Due to all parties we did have to cope with a delay, but the tool is suitable and very interesting.

What is the potential economic and ecologic potential impact of the project?

We hope to have an impact on the non political relations in Europe. It is important that the electricity companies are fully understood in terms of their requirements, their concerns and expectations in terms of the electric vehicle. These must coincide with the concerns and expectations of the manufacturers so that we can reach a solution that is satisfactory for everyone. We have to decrease the negative impact on the environment and above all, increase energy efficiency. This is important for all countries.

What type of innovation can this tool developed by INESC Porto bring to your company?

I believe that on a European level the added value of MERGE is that it brings together many different perspectives, different electric grids, different needs and the characteristics of each country are different. More needs to be done because car manufacturing is taking place on a global level and is not considering the characteristics of each of the electrical networks. This, in my opinion, would have more added value. This concept must be developed working together in a way that makes sense for all countries.

Pedro Cabral, Manager of the Department of Security of Supply at REN

Have the tools developed in conjunction with INESC Porto met with your expectations?

Yes, the tool was created to respond to one of our needs, the development process was long but thorough. Therefore, it was always going to result in a product that would meet our requirements. We are currently using the tool in the industrial part of our activity.

Describe the relationship between your company and INESC Porto.

REN’s participation in project MERGE can be considered separately from the Reservas project. Evidently here there is no complete distinction because the partnership was established to develop project Reservas and the three bodies were aware of the fact that participating in Project MERGE would be interesting. The challenge was launched by INESC Porto and the added value that we saw for us along with the use of Reservas and the possibility of developing functions associated with the integration of the electric car were both fundamental for our decision to not miss this opportunity. 

What is the potential economic and ecologic potential impact of the project?

The integration of electric cars is essentially linked to security and supply. The electric car itself can decrease greenhouse gases because it uses renewable energy or fuels that are less carbon intensive and also because they are more globally efficient than current vehicles. This is linked more closely to the electric cars themselves and not to what REN sees as the potential benefits of participating in MERGE.

The advantages of MERGE for us are essentially linked to the benefits of long term planning. This is one of our responsibilities both for network infrastructure and also to identify the need for reserves. This aspect is not directly dependent on us. In relation to the production methods that make up this reserve we are the last to respond because we are responsible for the management of the system in real time and we cannot allow things to happen. We have to complete studies prior to this to identify these needs so that the market then has the time and the mechanisms to respond and respond with enough time to be useful. The project is now over half way and we have already made important inputs that we are currently using in our study. 

What type of innovation can this tool developed by INESC Porto bring to your company?

For example the profiles for infrastructure for the charging of electric vehicles expected to be used will have an impact on our levels of consumption. This is the main variable that will be used to analyse the security of supply in the future. The fact that we have the raw material to be able to characterise this impact in terms of charge diagrams, through questionnaires created as part of the project and the manipulation of this data by specialists, can allow us to use this information. Without this we would not have had access to this abundance of information that is so well structured, we would not be working towards a common goal.

REN now has the tools to conduct the necessary assessments. These needs will hopefully appear when the electric car is used on mass and it is important that we pass on these messages early. They will be transmitted through our security of supply monitoring reports, for example, that we produce annually and are then delivered to the authorities, namely the Directorate General for energy.
 
Photo: Auto Types

Source: BIP 115

 

https://www.inesctec.pt/en/news/project-merge-looks-good-at-the-end-of-year-one-18153