CLIMATE SPECTATOR: Green light for the EV shift

Good news! It seems that the lights won't go out when we plug in our electric cars. Which is just as well, as AGL expects Australia will have a lot of EVs.

By Sophie Vorrath ·
2 Nov 2011

Climate Spectator

In any discussions about when – and how quickly – the world will see a shift from fossil fuel-powered cars to vehicles powered mainly by electricity, the logistical uncertainties surrounding this transformation are what tend to push the timing out to somewhere in the distant future. But a new study by AGL Energy is seeking to remove one of these uncertainties, at least for Australia, by showing that broad-scale EV uptake would have a relatively minimal impact on the nation's electricity market.

In a working paper titled "Electric Vehicles in the NEM: energy market and policy implications," AGL says that "the correct mix of pricing, policy and regulatory settings should ensure a smooth transition to the decarbonisation of the transport fleet." And while there might be some specific challenges at a neighbourhood level, it finds that "the medium term aggregate impact on the electricity grid is likely to be relatively minor."

The report, the 27th in AGL's Applied Economic and Policy Research Working Paper Series, had the aim of reviewing the electricity load impacts arising from growth in the passenger EV market, the implications this had for the National Electricity Market, and to explore the role that policies, regulations and companies could play in the marketplace. AGL is, of course, part of a consortium with EV infrastructure company Better Place, Macquarie Capital Group (and more recently GE Australia) that joined forces in 2008 to raise $1 billion towards the deployment of an EV network powered by renewables.