Leading power and automation group ABB has secured a contract for the supply and installation of an electric vehicle (EV) charging solution for the Australian Energy Research Institute (AERI) at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney.
AERI has been awarded a $19 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Education Infrastructure Fund (EIF) to study renewable energy integration into the Australian electricity grid, perform hardware-in-the-loop testing of new protection and control equipment, and other projects under development with UNSW’s research and industry partners.
The scope of the work involves simulating future scenarios based not only on increasing penetration of solar and other renewable energy sources into the supply side of the electricity grid, but also modelling “how future loads and usage will impact overall system stability”.
By modelling the performance and impact of EV chargers in large numbers throughout a simulated grid, AERI researchers will be able to develop management and mitigation strategies at the system level and to ensure solutions to future problems are already available, before they eventuate.
According to the press release by ABB, the company will provide its Terra53 CJG EV charger to power a small fleet of BMW i3s, as well as Tesla’s new model S.
“The Terra53 offers AERI the flexibility of being able to fulfil the various charging standards across their fleet of vehicles. It is compatible with all CHAdeMO, Combined Charging Systems (CCS) and Type 2 AC vehicles currently on the road,” said Anthony Froelich, Sales Manager for ABB EV Chargers.
“ABB’s Terra53 was selected due to its ability to charge some of the latest EV batteries from 30% to 80% in 15 minutes. The ease of access to detailed charging data for the Terra53 also makes it an excellent fit for our research activities,” said Tim Dixon, Manager of AERI, adding that installation and commissioning of the fast-charging unit is to be completed by early June.
The ABB Group has already established country-wide fast-charging networks in the Netherlands and Estonia and is one of the partners helping to install fast-charging infrastructure on the so-called “European Long-distance Electric Clean Transport Road Infrastructure Corridor” which stretches across Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden.
In February 2014, ABB partnered with China’s Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology Co., Ltd to install EV chargers that offer the convenience of fast charging at home, at work or at public charging stations, combined with a mobile app that allows remote monitoring and control of charging sessions.
The company has already delivered the first batch of EV chargers to end-customers in China and says installations are growing steadily.
