Summary
In Denmark the shift to renewable energy is a shift from electricity production based primarily on thermal power plants that can be controlled and regulated to electricity production based on wind and solar power. The future energy system must, to a high degree, abide by weather. Energinet looks at how future electricity consumption is expected to interact with the energy system as a whole, with the goal of identifying possible barriers and inefficiencies and thereby supporting an economically sound green transition.
In 2035 it is estimated there will be 1.5 million electric vehicles in Denmark. Their charging patterns and willingness to adapt to variable renewable production are identified across multiple studies as one of the key elements in achieving an efficient transition with high security of supply, relatively low cost, and high renewables utilisation.
This whitepaper supports the strategic visions in the EU’s action plan for a digitalised and green energy system, and addresses why these visions are essential for an efficient and smart market – using EVs as the showcase.
What is proposed
A technical framework that turns the EV charging ecosystem into a democratised market. The legal owner of a charge point can delegate granular control and read access to designated actors, decoupling the infrastructure layer from the service layer. This is a significant change from today’s structure, where infrastructure ownership and the operating service are typically bundled.
Beyond EV charging specifically, the paper generalises access to data and functions of a sector’s IoT devices – enabling improved coupling to the Data Space initiative and applying to other use cases such as heat pumps.
Why this matters
The bundling of infrastructure and service today creates entry barriers for new market actors and limits the system’s ability to adapt charging behaviour to renewable production. The proposed unbundling lays the groundwork for legislative work that could enable significant value creation for EV users and market actors, and lower the cost of the future green electricity system.
Citation
Arenkiel, L. S., Hviid, J., Andersen, M. H., & Clausen, M. S. (2023). Driving Towards Grid Balance: An Architecture Clarification White Paper. Energinet DataHub. https://energinet.dk/media/jkwn4ekx/driving-towards-grid-balance.pdf