The electromobility market in Europe is growing but is held back by insufficient charging infrastructure. Even in Germany, where the decarbonisation of transport is central to public policy, there are many locations where the grid capacity is not enough to charge a large number of electric vehicles (EVs) simultaneously. In these situations, electrical storage systems can provide a solution.

In the city of Halle (Saale) in Saxony-Anhalt, the local administration has come together with three project partners – Merseburg University of Applied Sciences (HS Merseberg), Stadtwerke Halle GmbH and pwp Systems GmbH – to design and install a model e-storage system just outside the city’s administration building. EVs will be able to plug directly into the unit to re-charge or take power from the grid.

"The installed technology essentially includes the actual electric storage unit, three electric charging columns with two charging points each and the intelligent charging-storage management system," explains Dr Jörg Scheffler, a professor of Electrical Energy Systems who is supervising the project at HS Merseberg, in a press release.

The intelligent charging-storage system will ensure that the optimum power for charging the vehicles is always available at the connection points and will monitor the effect the extra capacity has on peak loads and grid loads. If the pilot proves successful, it will greatly reduce the need for costly extensions to the grid. Say, for example, a cable can transport a maximum power of 50 kilowatts but a total power of 100 kilowatts is called up at the charging points, the difference can be provided from the e-storage unit. The management system makes sure the unit is charged or discharged in advance, according to the real-time needs.