One sentence summary – A study conducted by researchers from Delft University of Technology highlights the grid capacity challenges faced by the Netherlands due to the increasing number of renewable energy projects, particularly in solar energy, with suburban areas being particularly vulnerable to overloading, voltage drops, and undervoltage incidents, while urban grids demonstrate greater resilience, and the study offers recommendations for enhanced grid capacity, improved insulation standards, and energy-efficiency measures for future buildings.
At a glance
- The Netherlands is facing grid capacity issues due to the rise in renewable energy projects, especially in the solar energy sector.
- Delft University of Technology conducted a study using real data from Dutch distribution grid operators to evaluate the impact of EVs, heat pumps, and PV generation on the Dutch grid.
- The study categorizes distribution networks into different types, providing insights into vulnerabilities and issues associated with the increasing penetration of these technologies.
- Dutch suburban areas are particularly vulnerable to grid overloading, with overloading of up to 800% observed in both summer and winter months.
- The study suggests that heat pumps have a higher overall impact on the grid compared to EVs, and longer EV charging periods lead to more persistent violations.
The details
The Netherlands is currently grappling with grid capacity issues due to the increasing number of renewable energy projects.
This is particularly evident in the solar energy sector.
Researchers from Delft University of Technology have conducted an extensive study to evaluate the impact of electric vehicles (EVs), heat pumps, and photovoltaic (PV) generation on the Dutch grid.
The study uses real data from Dutch distribution grid operators.
It categorizes the distribution networks into different types.
This provides valuable insights into the vulnerabilities and issues associated with the increasing penetration of these technologies.
The simulation results reveal that Dutch suburban areas are particularly vulnerable to grid overloading.
This is caused by the increased penetration of EVs, heat pumps, and PV generation.
Both summer and winter months witnessed overloading of up to 800% in suburban grids.
Line overloading becomes evident in suburban grids once the total penetration reaches 50%.
Heavy suburban grids experienced overloading exceeding 700% in certain cases.
The light suburban grid experienced voltage drops below the acceptable threshold of 0.9 per-unit (pu) even at a 50% penetration rate.
Multiple undervoltage incidents were observed in the heavy suburban grid.
In rural grids, the light configuration did not experience transformer violations.
However, the heavy rural grid encountered transformer overload at a 50% penetration rate.
Line overloading occurred in the heavy rural grid at an 80% penetration rate.
Urban grids demonstrated robustness, with no instances of under or over-voltage observed.
However, under full penetration in winter, maximum transformer overload reached 331% and line overload reached 164%.
The study suggests that heat pumps have a higher overall impact on the grid compared to EVs.
Moreover, longer EV charging periods were found to cause more persistent violations.
To minimize the grid impact from electric heating, the researchers recommend implementing higher insulation standards.
They also suggest improved energy labels for future buildings.
The research conducted by Delft University of Technology highlights the grid capacity challenges faced by the Netherlands.
This is due to the increasing number of renewable energy projects, particularly in solar energy.
The study emphasizes the vulnerability of suburban areas to overloading, voltage drops, and undervoltage incidents.
Urban grids, on the other hand, exhibit greater resilience.
By providing insights into the impact of EVs, heat pumps, and PV generation, the research offers valuable recommendations.
These include enhanced grid capacity, improved insulation standards, and energy-efficiency measures for future buildings.
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| pv-magazine.com |
|---|
| – The Netherlands is facing grid capacity issues due to the increasing number of renewable energy projects, particularly solar. |
| – Researchers from Delft University of Technology have studied the impact of electric vehicles (EVs), heat pumps, and PV generation on the Dutch grid. – |
| The researchers used real data from Dutch distribution grid operators and categorized the distribution networks into different types. – Simulation results showed that Dutch suburban areas are the most vulnerable to increased penetration of all technologies. |
| – Suburban grids experienced overloading of up to 800% in both summer and winter. |
| – Line overloading occurred in suburban grids from 50% total penetration, with heavy suburban grids exceeding 700% overloading. – |
| The light suburban grid experienced voltage drops under 0.9 per-unit (pu) even at 50% penetration, and multiple undervoltage incidents were observed in the heavy suburban grid. |
| – In rural grids, the light configuration had no transformer violations, while the heavy rural grid experienced transformer overload at 50% penetration. – Line overloading occurred in the heavy rural grid at an 80% penetration rate. – |
| No instances of under or over-voltage were observed in urban grids. |
| – Urban grids demonstrated maximum transformer overload of 331% and line overload of 164% under full penetration in winter. – |
| The use of heat pumps had a higher overall grid impact, while longer EV charging periods caused more long-lasting violations. – |
| The researchers recommend higher insulation and improved energy labels for future buildings to minimize grid impact from electric heating. |
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