Connected Energy have provided BESS to support EV charging on motorway sites in Belgium and Germany, giving them the additional power required on a very constrained grid.
Allego was founded in 2013 in the Netherlands as part of grid operator Alliander. In 2018 they became part of Meridiam and rapidly expanded their European network.
The company offers smart charging solutions for electric cars, motorcycles, buses, and trucks for consumers, businesses, and cities. Allego has built an international charging network with already 40,000+ charge points operational throughout Europe.
Allego was looking to develop their motorway network and had identified two sites in Kircheim, Germany, and then in Wanlin, Belgium. Capacity management was the critical consideration of both projects, due to the isolated nature of the sites. Both sites suffered from grid constraints and the company wished to explore the use of battery storage to ensure that the introduction of rapid chargers did not cause the grid constraint to be exceeded.
As the usage of EV’s becomes even more pronounced, faster charging stations will be required to deal with the capacity, with a greater requirement for BESS to make up for the increased grid usage, otherwise companies will be required to invest in extremely costly grid upgrades.
EV rapid chargers require a lot of power, many current systems require 50kW whilst 150kW and 300kW+ chargers are now more commonplace. Providing sufficient power for expanding clusters of these systems to operate will become an increasing challenge and part of the solution will inevitably be energy storage.
“The energy landscape has shifted. The debate isn't just about how much energy we use, it's also about when we use it. ”
Using an E-STOR to provide grid load management for multiple electric vehicle (EV) rapid chargers is quickly becoming a popular solution to the issue of expensive grid upgrades. Our E-STOR system combines two cutting-edge technologies: that of second-life EV batteries (paying into the circular economy), and utilising our control software that manages the power, effectively optimising the energy available.
A 60kW E-STOR system was installed with an active load management mode. Operating within this active mode, the chargers are controlled by the E-STOR system via Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP). The charge to the vehicle is delivered when the combined power available from the grid and the E-STOR system is sufficient to ensure the constraint will not be exceeded.
The beauty of adopting the E-STOR systems is that future upgrades are simple in comparison to a grid upgrades. It is simply a case of adding more of the modular units to the system, and the management platform will ensure they work in sync.
Now installed, Allego can ensure every EV that stops at their sites in Germany and Belgium will be able to charge their cars promptly, whenever they arrive.
Get in touch with our team to discuss whether battery energy storage can work for your business.
