Temporary Event Charging
| Funding mechanism | Network Innovation Allowance (NIA) |
|---|---|
| Duration | Dec 2020 - Oct 2021 |
| Project expenditure | £118K |
| Research area | Transition to low carbon future |
Objective(s)
This project is a feasibility study with the aim to improve knowledge on how to accommodate charging at temporary events, design solutions for charging at a range of events, determine the benefits of using temporary connections to achieve this and determine whether a demonstration project is appropriate.
Problem(s)
Temporary events, including festivals and sporting events, attract a large number of attendees each year, with a large proportion of these attendees needing to travel by car due to the limited travel infrastructure available in rural areas. Every year there are over 500 festivals across the UK which host 4.9 million festival goers. As the number of Electric Vehicles (EVs) increases in line with government targets to decarbonise transport there will be a need for significant charging capacity at these events. Currently events provide limited charging points and existing charging methods include utilisation of diesel generation or making permanent network connections which is not economically viable for a short period of use. Providing connections to these sites would come at a large cost which would be split between the site owner and the distribution network operator (DNO) and its customers, therefore an alternative solution is required for this problem.
Method(s)
Temporary Event Charging is a feasibility study which will design solutions for charging the EVs used to travel to events and assess their feasibility for further trial and development. Scenarios where charging infrastructure would be required will be defined and solutions to these will be developed and could include temporary network connections and battery storage. This will be split across two work packages:
1. Site selection and case study development (4 months)
This work package will consist of identifying sites that require temporary charging solutions and investigating the solutions that may be suitable. These sites will make up case studies for later work and as such will need to include the existing and required site capacity, current charging infrastructure, potential temporary charging solutions, and other use cases for the solutions (e.g. visual and audio, concession stands, hospitality etc.).
The output of this work package will be a report that includes the background, case studies identified, charging solutions identified and a plan for case study analysis.
2. Case study analysis and designs (4 months)
This second work package will analyse the case studies outlined in the first work package and in doing so feed into the further development of solutions. The solutions will need to be agreed within WPD to ensure connections are compliant with WPD policy. Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) will then be carried out with a focus on the saving for DNO customers who would have met a proportion of the traditional connection cost. The output of this work package will be a report containing a high level design solution for each case study, reporting on how this will be coordinated with WPD policy, projected costs including cost benefits for DNOs and their customers, a summary of learning, and conclusions and recommendations.
Scope
The Temporary Event Charging project will develop solutions for charging EVs at scale at temporary events held in areas where there is a need for attendees to travel by car. The project will ensure that these solutions will be possible for use on the distribution network while providing cost benefit to the DNO and its customers, before making a recommendation on if a trial project would be suitable.