Proposals to scale back electric vehicle targets in the EU could lead to slower renewable energy deployment and higher energy costs, Transport & Environment has said.
According to a new study commissioned by T&E and undertaken by Fraunhofer ISI, fewer electric vehicles on Europe’s roads would mean less storage capacity for the grid to absorb excess wind and solar energy at times of peak electricity demand, and could require additional power generation equivalent to building 150 extra power plants.
The study examines the role that EVs could play in supporting the grid through so-called vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, which enables EVs to push power back into the grid when there is a shortfall.
However, proposals to scale back vehicle emissions targets, which T&E estimates could lead to 49 million fewer EVs on European roads by 2040, would result in large amounts of excess energy going to waste.
Excess solar and wind energy
“EVs can act like a continent-sized sponge to soak up excess solar and wind energy and feedback into the grid when it’s needed,” commented Geert Decock, electricity and grids manager at T&E. “But the car industry’s demands to weaken EU electric car targets would result in far less EV battery storage being available. That would change the business case for renewables and suffocate solar deployment.”
A smaller EV fleet would reduce the amount of battery storage available to absorb excess electricity generated by renewable sources such as solar and wind, leading to greater levels of renewable energy curtailment. As a result, Europe would be losing an additional 6 TWh of clean energy a year by 2040, according to T&E.
Maintaining standards
T&E has called for current EU vehicle emissions standards to be maintained, in turn supporting both transport decarbonisation and the wider energy transition. According to its estimates, meeting the targets currently in place could save the bloc €27.9 billion annually in fuel costs, as well as providing a large-scale battery network sufficient to support renewable electricity integration.
“High oil prices have made energy security and the transition to renewables more urgent than ever for the EU,” Decock added. “But scaling back the bloc’s electric car targets makes that transition far more expensive to achieve. With fewer EV batteries in the system, investors won’t finance the solar build out at the same scale and billions more will need to be spent on new power plants, energy storage and upgrades.
“Maintaining the EU car CO2 standards is key to cleaning up road transport but also to transitioning the energy system.” Read more here.
