The UK’s fast expanding electric vehicle (EV) market could be about to receive a major boost, in the form of an ambitious £1.6bn plan to drastically extend the country’s fast charging network and strengthen the electricity grid. Pivot Power will today announce plans for the world’s first network of integrated grid-scale battery storage units and rapid EV charging stations, in a move that promises to both address ‘range anxiety’ concerns amongst prospective EV drivers and provide new ‘flexibility services’ to National Grid. The proposals would see rapid charging stations installed at 45 sites across the country, alongside grid-scale 50MW batteries that are planned for electricity sub-stations and would connect directly to the extra-high-voltage transmission system. Critics of EVs have argued that delivering a large scale fast charging network would place unprecedented pressure on the grid, which would require costly upgrades and new generation capacity. However, grid experts have long argued a combination of energy storage and renewables technologies can help alleviate such concerns and enable a national fast-charging network.
Business Green 22nd May 2018 read more »