Why Microgrids are essential for EV charge station in Retail business?

Electric vehicle owners will soon be able to charge their vehicles while shopping. Where Retailers can provide sustainable energy with low cost for EV Charging station.

Rise of EV:

Electric vehicle (EV) ownership across the world is expected to reach approximately 125 million units by 2030. It is therefore critical that energy providers and cities in general prepare for a considerable increase in demand for EV charging infrastructure.

As the number of EVs increases, several key problems will inevitably arise. Unmanaged peak load from EV charging will place stress on current electricity grid infrastructure, which will be detrimental to both charging point operators (CPSs) and consumers.

Essential of EV charging station in Retail:

In the nutshell, more the EVs on the road, the bigger the EV charging demand. Retailers can utilize this unique opportunity, as we expect EV drivers can shop where they can charge their vehicles.

Equipping your retail store with EV charging services will have two major effects on your business. On the one hand, providing a service that’s high in demand will contribute to increasing your established customers’ loyalty. On the other, it will attract a whole new clientele of EV drivers who will likely shop at your location while charging their batteries. In both cases, you’ll be creating new revenue streams.

How Hard is to implement EV station:

Firstly, the implementation of dynamic loading to the grid and circumventing restraints on the amount of power available from the grid. While this will ease pressure on energy infrastructure, it may require considerable modification to charging stations and the grid. It will also invariably reshape electricity consumption patterns.

Utility companies follow a time-of-use rate plan where the energy cost depends on the amount of energy used and the time of use. Therefore, it means that the electricity costs incurred by charging stations vary based on times and seasons.

Solution: Why do retailers need Microgrids?

There are a lot of reasons, including circumventing restraints on the amount of power available from the grid, cost reductions and energy saving, increased flexibility and resilience.

Demand of Electric power: The risk of there being a shortage of power available for charging from the central grid increases with the number of fast chargers being deployed during peak times.

The increase in power demand during peak times, the utilization of green energy sources particularly solar power can further enhance the implementation of dynamic energy management.

Dynamic energy management systems will allow green energy, such as from solar power, to be stored in on-site batteries and then leveraged so that EVs can still be charged when electricity prices are high during peak times.

Cost Reduction: Many of the Utilities company follow time-of-use plan, Peak hours fall between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. every day, while the hours before 4 p.m. and after 9 p.m. are off-peak. The costs will be higher during peak hours — hence the demand charges challenge for electric vehicle charging stations.

Another advantage is that ownership of the microgrid means payment to a utility for power is unnecessary. A microgrid that takes these variances into account can provide a great amount of flexibility to a retailer to reduce the additional charging costs associated with irregularities to the schedule.

Return on Investment: If retailer adopts “Microgrid-as-a-service”, this model would attract third-party investors because they can earn a return on their investment by leveraging tax credits and other incentives.

The other benefits of revenue savings by microgrid:

1. Selling the microgrid output into energy markets when the on-site generators are not needed by the retailer

2. Managing energy use in a way that reduces certain utility demand charges to business customers.

References:

1. https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/wal-mart-to-turn-big-box-stores-into-hybrid-electric-buildings
2. https://medium.com/illumination/could-starbucks-become-the-future-of-ev-charging-stations-c15384cc0e67

If you liked this article, pleases say 👋,Follow me on LinkedIn or here for more interesting content updates