EA Technology receives £150,000 reward for “exceptional performance” of My Electric Avenue project

EA Technology and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) will share a £300,000 reward as a result of the “exceptional performance” of a high-profile electric vehicle research project.

Electricity regulator Ofgem said the My Electric Avenue project was of “huge benefit to GB electricity customers” and added that its findings had “helped give the Government confidence to push ahead with the wide scale electrification of transport”.

An example of the direct impact of the three-year project, delivered in partnership by SSEN and EA Technology, is the recently launched Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018.

The project artificially created ‘clusters’ of Electric Vehicle (EV) users to help understand the impact this extra demand may have on low voltage electricity networks, predicting what may need to happen in the future as more people transition to electric forms of transport.

It also trialled demand-side response (DSR) technology to help manage charging and mitigate the risk of network overload.

The discretionary reward of £300,000 awarded to EA Technology and SSEN comes from Ofgem’s Low Carbon Networks Fund.

Learnings from the project and SSEN’s subsequent Smart EV initiative, also delivered by EA Technology, have helped develop Government legislation to mandate that all EV chargers in Britain are smart to enable distribution network operators (DNOs) to safeguard, maintain and develop smarter networks to cope with the increase in EVs in the future.

In its award summary, Ofgem commented on the “notable achievement”, highlighting significant and sustained engagement efforts by the project team in reducing any adverse network impacts of wide scale EV rollout.

Robert Davis, CEO of EA Technology, said: “We are delighted that the outstanding success of the My Electric Avenue project has been recognised by Ofgem.“This was a complex and challenging project which was truly ground-breaking in being the first to bring together stakeholders from the entire EV supply chain, producing learnings which have been instrumental in progressing the electrification of transport in Great Britain. “It will ensure that the industry is well prepared to deal with the challenges ahead as the widespread rollout of EVs continues, underpinning our low carbon transition.”

Stewart Reid, SSEN’s Head of DSO and Innovation, said: “As our industry rapidly transforms in the move to a smarter, more flexible energy system, understanding and managing the impact of EVs and other low carbon technologies is an increasingly important aspect of how we operate our electricity networks. “We’re delighted the My Electric Avenue project has been recognised for its exceptional performance in influencing and informing UK legislation to ensure the transition to EVs is as smooth as possible as the country moves forward to achieve its low carbon transport ambitions. “We continue to work with our industry partners through our Smart EV project, to make sure this fully supported transition takes place with minimal disruption to customers, avoiding unnecessary and costly network reinforcement through smart technology interventions.”