How EVS and Electric Water Heaters Turn City into Huge Batteries

As transportation and heating electrification accelerates, many people worry that increasing demand could overload the country’s electricity grid. In Australia, electricity consumption is expected to double by 2050.

If everyone charges the car and uses an electrical system to heat the water, peak demand can rise sharply and force costly grid upgrades. However, this only happens when no planning is underway.

The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) and electric heating comes with a huge silver lining. As more Australians switch, they are quietly expanding their vast network of distributed energy storage. In a fully electrified future, each person can have an average of approximately 46 kilowatt hours of energy storage (both EV batteries and hot water systems).

Enlarge, it’s a huge resource. If all cars and water heaters run on electricity, they could combine flexible energy storage to reach 1,000 gigawatt hours (GWH) across Australia. This is well beyond the 350 GWH capacity of Snowy 2.0 hydroelectric projects and all existing grid-scale batteries.

These devices allow authorities to use them to operate the grid more efficiently and slash infrastructure costs. In fact, our new research shows that with proper adjustments, cities can store energy from energy consumers in flexible energy hubs and release them when needed. This will avoid billions of dollars worth of grid upgrades.

Storage is built in

Electrification replaces fossil fuel combustion technology with an electric-only system, driving the grid steadily clean.

For households, electrification means switching EV combustion engine cars and replacing gas hot water with electrical systems such as heat pumps. Both reduce carbon emissions when run on a grid with high levels of renewable energy.

EVS and electric water heaters offer more than just mobility or heating. It also incorporates energy storage. EV batteries store a large amount of power. This is usually several times the size of a house battery. Hot water systems also store energy in the form of heat.

Both of these resources are very useful in providing power to grid authorities as they help optimize the behavior of the grid.

A power grid is a constant balancing act that requires careful alignment between supply and demand. When there is a strong demand, such as a heat wave, demand can exceed normal supply and cause prices to skyrocket.

When the EV is charged and the water is heated during off-peak period, it can greatly reduce the burden on the grid.

Canberra points to the road

Since 2020, Canberra has 100% renewable electricity. The ACT government is aiming to reach net zero by 2045.

Modeling has shown that this goal can be much closer to the clever use of EVS and hot water systems. The timecar changes were charged and heated water moved 5 kWh of power per person. This is about a third of the daily electricity usage of each Canberra resident.

Unmanaged charging and heating will jump peak loads by 34%. However, if charging and heating shift to off-peak hours overnight, it could limit the peak load rise to just 16%.

Reducing the rise in peak loads will avoid multi-billion dollar grid upgrades, such as expanding substations and building more transmission lines.

When flexibility is most important

It has been found that Canberra’s new energy storage resources are concentrated in many electric hot water systems and in densely populated areas where many EVs are parked during the day.

Importantly, these hotspots do not remain in place. During working hours, the battery of the vehicle tends to be concentrated in high-density office areas where the EV is parked. In some Canberra work areas, storage capacity rose by up to 31% during work week.

It makes sense to make the most of these hotspots by installing smart chargers that optimize the timing of EV charging and creating virtual power plants.

Both these approaches provide a cost-effective way to aggregate small-scale home devices into large, coordinated storage resources.

If you match demand to solar peaks, you could use renewable energy and otherwise waste it during peak times.

Policy needs to catch up

Capturing significant benefits from these new storage resources does not occur automatically. Smart systems and support policies are required.

Technologies such as smart chargers and virtual power plants already exist. A virtual South Australian power plant shows what is actually possible.

However, to date, most Australian households do not have this kind of smart system. In many regions, electricity pricing is relatively flexible, with limited adjustments between flexible energy use and grid needs.

To make the most of this enormous new energy storage resource potential, governments and energy companies need to:

We encourage the intake of smart chargers and smart water heaters within the building. Dynamic pricing schemes help shift off-peak periods by better reflecting real-time supply and demand.

More Demand – But More Storage

As Australia gets more and more electricity, cities are becoming more and more than just energy consumers.

Rather, they are becoming flexible energy hubs that can balance supply and demand.

A humble electric water heater and EV used wisely can do more than meet the needs of a home. They will help power Australia’s clean energy future.

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