How ready is Victoria for the electrification of transport?

iMOVE’s ESP: Preparing for the electrification of transportation project investigates how low voltage, electricity distribution networks will help Victoria prepare for the electrification of transportation. The project’s final report is available for download below.

Background

The electrification of transport is a significant step in the decarbonisation of the economy, in the global push towards net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. This transition will have impacts across the entire electricity distribution system and implications for the transmission systems, particularly in terms of changing load profiles, distributed energy resources and asset requirements.

Participants with iMOVE on this project were the Centre for New Energy Technologies (C4NET) and RMIT University.

The collaboration coordinated what are traditionally disparate modelling frameworks, to update the concept of infrastructure utilisation at a distribution (sub-transmission) level, and its likely impact on the transmission level and other whole of system implications.

The key aim was to develop the foundation to inform post-2030 electricity system planning downstream to the transmission level, by aligning a diverse group of stakeholders.

Along with addressing the impacts and implications for the entire electricity distribution system, the report provides harmonised, quantitative inputs into future planning strategies. It also focussed on the effects of changes in consumer technological adoption, such as their electrification of transport and their interaction with localised renewables and distributed energy resources.

The project provided outcomes, insights and input data based on what-if scenarios that could be used by relevant stakeholders in their studies and general business-as-usual decision-making. The individual stakeholders and organisations will then be able to use these to inform their forecasts.

Overview

The Enhanced System Planning (ESP) is a collaborative research project between Distribution Network Service Providers (DNSP), the Victorian Government, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) and leading universities, which seek to inform post-2030, sub-transmission-level electricity planning.

Objectives included creating a baseline use case for the electrification of transportation, as well as a sample electricity network upon which to model the impacts of the electrification of transportation across Victoria.

Currently, in Victoria, there is no comprehensive system-wide modelling framework that integrates distribution networks with the transmission system using consistent parameters and assumptions. This limits efforts to perform whole-of-system infrastructure planning and development.

The work’s modelling will forecast the impact of various operational models – related to electrification of transportation and the energy transition – on the current electricity networks, for the purpose of enhancing existing network hosting capacity, existing industry structures and demand response.

Modelling will also help understand how future industry structures and multi-sided markets may positively impact electricity network hosting capacity.

All of this work delivered insights to governments, regulators and industry participants on the impacts that the electrification of transportation is likely to have on existing electricity infrastructure. It will also consider the impact of the transition away from gas appliances.

This will allow time for policy, standards, regulation and markets to respond to these trends and support a more efficient transition.

Methodology

A key aspect of the project was to develop a representative model of the Victorian distribution network for conducting impact assessments and power system studies.

The idea is to develop a model that can be used to broadly represent the Victorian grid in a way that enables simplified “bottom-up” analysis by researchers and industry. The modelling for representative distribution networks has been conducted by employing various methodologies and validated through different pronged approaches, such as low-voltage (LV) and medium-voltage (MV) analysis, MV line loading, and DSS transformer loading.

A hybrid modelling approach combines synthetic or pseudo-LV network models with actual MV feeders provided by DNSPs for five distinct network types. This approach will enable the development of an MV-LV distribution network model.

The methodologies and outputs are designed to allow scaling up to other states beyond Victoria with further funding and stakeholder support to create an ‘ESP-National’ approach.

Design of synthetic ‘pseudo’ LV networks to integrate into HV/MV network models

The ESP-V WP1.4 (Victoria Whole-Distribution Network Architecture via Synthetic Network Models) adopted a pseudo-LV network method, to represent spatial characteristics and typical network topology of Victoria, as well as support different network analysis functions. It further customised the pseudo-LV network method by leveraging the Victorian DNSP data and network attributes.

The pseudo-LV network approach does not match the real networks, in that it has greatly simplified the connection arrangements for the ease of automation and efficiency. For example, it has adopted a simplified linear approach to the LV connection topology, when in practice it’s typically non-linear.

Unlike CSIRO LV models, the developed pseudo-LV network models offer higher flexibility to adjust LV networks for different LV circuits and customer connection densities. The cable specification has been adopted from Victorian DNSP data and the number of customers per feeder and associated cable length are considered through Victorian demographic data.

The developed pseudo-LV network models also specifically reflect the appropriate customer type composition in each type of network (i.e. urban, suburban, rural-short, rural-long and CBD), which is sourced from DNSPs.

A base case simulation was conducted to validate the accuracy of the developed pseudo-LV network models and associated datasets. A detailed analysis of steady-state voltage, thermal loading at both the MV and LV levels and DSS transformer loading was performed.

Conclusions

The study presented in this project’s final report offers a foundational analysis of MV-LV network models for power system studies in Victoria.

However, several limitations need to be acknowledged, primarily due to data constraints and design assumptions made during the pseudo-LV network modelling process. These limitations could influence the accuracy and applicability of the results, particularly when extrapolating them to real-world scenarios.

For example, it assumed a 15 (or 20) meter “virtual” distance between customers. It also made assumptions around the maximum number of customers per LV circuit, and the number of customers supplied by each pole.

For each MV feeder, it considered only one type of conductor for overhead lines and one for underground lines. Except for the urban feeder, simplified After Diversity Maximum Demand (ADMD) values are considered in load flow analysis to validate the developed suburban, rural-short, rural-long and CBD feeders.

An assessment of the above limitations, using ten different types of actual LV network models (provided by a Victorian DNSP) and equivalent pseudo-LV network models (developed by RMIT using the methodology outlined in this report), will be informed by a subsequent ESP work package to assess the degree of correlation between corresponding “actual” and “pseudo” LV networks for given Distributed Energy Resource penetration and loading conditions.

Download final reports

Click the button below to downoad a copy of the final report for this project, Victoria whole distribution network architecture via synthetic models.