NIA SSEN 0038 E Tourism

Key Activities

The project’s aim is to carry out traffic flow and network modelling to understand the impact of EV charging on the distribution network. It includes the design and development of specific network and local flexibility solutions to assist with security of electric supply to EV charging hubs to deal with highly seasonal charging peaks in the tourist season.

Expected Outcomes

The benefits of this project are an improved understanding of how increased EV uptake, combined with tourist behaviour, will impact seasonal peak electric demand on the network, identifying the scale, location and duration of any increased charging followed by an in-depth study of specific locations. It has to enhance stakeholder engagement by helping local community groups, local authorities and other organisations to understand the impact that heightened EV tourism will have on local demand. It has also informed investment strategies for network development based on expected impacts of EV uptake and tourist patterns, thus coordinating future network capacity efficiently.

Progress

The project is now closed and has achieved its aims. Reports detailing the research, the findings, and the proposed solutions are published on the ENA website at https://smarter.energynetworks.org/projects/nia_ssen_0038. Learning relating to the Scottish phases and the initial Isle of Wight evaluation phase was presented at ENIC in 2021, and videos and animations were also used to inform and engage stakeholders.

The final report is available on our website at 2208-e-tourism-alternative-solutions.pdf. This report details the patterns we can expect to see, which areas will experience the impact of seasonal demand and what can be done about it by local authorities, tourist sites, DNOs, and other organisations.

Local flexible solutions are also identified and ranked in order of cost and simplicity so they may be used as a toolkit of people looking to connect any number of EV charge points in rural locations.