The electric vehicle

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The electric vehicle, as a new energy consumer, can become an ally for a more efficient operation of the system, reducing the great differences which occur between the peak hours of high electricity consumption and valley hours of lower consumption, and facilitating the integration of renewable energies. In order to be able to improve the operation of the electricity system it is very important that demand be displaced towards those hours at which the consumption is lower, it is here where a slow recharging of the electric vehicle can play a fundamental role in flattening the demand curve.

It is during the hours of higher consumption that electricity generation is more costly due to the fact that it is during these hours when the more expensive and higher CO₂ emitting power stations are needed to cover the increased demand.

Red Eléctrica has become one of the pioneering companies in providing recharging points at its facilities, currently totalling nine recharging points amongst its offices in Madrid, Seville y Valencia.

What opportunities does the electric system offer?

Improved efficiency of the system by contributing to flattening the demand curve: if users, who can select when to recharge the batteries, decide to recharge them during the periods of lower consumption (between 1 am and 7 am), they would help to flatten the curve as it would reduce the differences registered between peak hours (or periods of higher consumption) and the hours of lower electricity consumption.

Inefficient system	Efficient system

If the recharging takes place only during the daylight hours, the demand curve would experience an even greater imbalance owing to the increase in the differences between the periods of higher and lower consumption.	Intelligent recharging during the night-time hours would benefit the electricity system and would also provide savings to the user as the price of electricity can be lower.

Facilitating the integration of renewable energies into the system under secure conditions. Wind power energy generation is extremely variable and frequently increases at night, when it is not always possible to integrate this energy generated into the system if the electric energy offer is greater that the electricity demand. For this reason, recharging electric vehicles during night-time hours makes it possible to make the most of the energy available and reduces the possible disconnection of the wind farms should their production exceed the system safety limits which have been set.
Electric vehicles are new consumers which, over the next decade, will represent 2% of the current electricity demand. According to studies carried out by Red Eléctrica, it would be possible to integrate at least six and a half million of these vehicles into the electricity system without additional investment in generation or in the transmission grid, providing that slow recharging takes place during night-time hours. None-the-less, it will be necessary to develop intelligent recharging systems that allow a vehicle-network communication (intelligent networks), as well as the installation of smart meters with hourly discrimination capability that will help users to perform an intelligent recharge.
The electric vehicle can, in the long-term, become a reversible energy storage system. The batteries would be recharged at night and then, during the day, when the demand is higher they could feed the stored electricity back into the grid.
Thanks to the electric vehicle Spain can reduce its oil dependency for energy and CO₂ emissions, contribute to improving the air quality and reduce the noise levels in cities.

Red Eléctrica's backing for the electric vehicle: initiatives and projects

Red Electrica de España's Rechargeable Electric Car

Adherence to the Memorandum for the promotion of the electric vehicle, spearheaded by the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade and ratified by more than 40 institutions.
VERDE (GREEN) project : initiative to develop, together with SEAT, a prototype electric vehicle which allows an efficient integration of electricity into the grid.
Domocell R+D Programme : creation of a recharging system in communal garages that makes it possible to manage not only the charging of vehicles, but also the possibility of returning energy into the grid from the electricity stored in the batteries.
Participation in the VLPGO association (Very Large Power Grid Operators) which studies the effects of these vehicles on the electricity systems.
REVE Project (Wind power regulation with Electric vehicles) which analyses the technical and economic aspects derived from the contribution of electric vehicles to the guarantee of wind power energy evacuation.
MERGE Project (Mobile Energy Resources in Grids of Electricity) which evaluates the impact of electric vehicles on the European electricity systems, particularly those related to grid planning and operation, as well as the electricity markets.