Fortum India, BSES Yamuna Power pilot project for load balancing among chargers and EVs

Finland-headquartered EV charging service provider Fortum Charge & Drive India has signed an agreement with BSES Yamuna Power, a leading power distribution company for launching what they say is India’s first-of-its-kind pilot project on load balancing.

The pilot project in New Delhi will focus on managing charging by balancing dynamic demand from EVs with static load input from BYPL in the smart chargers provided by Fortum Charge & Drive (Fortum C&D). The one-year pilot project will analyse the capability under varying load and demand response scenarios through its proprietary backend and Fortum C&D India consumer Appi, enabling smart and innovative model for operating electric vehicles (EV) charging infrastructure networks.

As part of the agreement, a total of 3 chargers (5 charging points) will be deployed in Mayur Vihar Extension Phase I, New Delhi, built and operated by Fortum C&D India offering complete system integration and Software as a Service (SaaS) for operating EV charging infrastructure networks and customer interfaces to other Distribution Utilities and Charge point operators (CPOs). The capacity of the three deployed chargers will be 60kW DC (CCS), 30kW DC (DC001) (2x15kW guns) and 22kW (Type-II AC), respectively and will be transferred to BYPL at the end of the pilot project.

The project was inaugurated by the DERC Chairperson Justice Shabihul Hasnain ‘Shastri’ and DERC Member Dr A K Ambasht. Other dignitaries present on the occasion, included A K Singhal, Advisor and Former Member, DERC; Dr. Jukka Holappa, commercial counsellor and country director – India, Business Finland and officials from Fortum Charge and Drive. BSES team was represented by Amal Sinha, Director, BSES; Amarjeet Singh, CEO, BYPL; Rajesh Bansal, CEO, BRPL and senior discom officials.

Awadhesh Jha, executive director, Fortum Charge & Drive India said, “We are happy to collaborate with BSES Yamuna Power on the country’s first-of-its-kind load balancing pilot project to shave the power demand during peak hours. Fortum Charge & Drive has been working closely with ecosystem partners across the country to facilitate EV charging infrastructure and create solutions to operate with minimal restrictions. This project will augment our efforts in laying a strong foundation to enable smooth functioning of EVs across the country by creating a widespread network of charging solutions that the vehicle owners and operators can rely on. We are hopeful that the success of this pilot project will augment other utilities to come forward to build EV charging infrastructure without a huge investment. The solution may help them optimise their investment in upgrading infrastructure, whilst for CPOs it will pave way for lesser demand charges, if CPOs can manage EV charging infrastructure with lesser contracted capacity, then demanded, he further added.”

A BSES spokesperson said, “BSES is gearing up to play a major role in the emerging EV sector. Deployment of this smart managed EV charging station is a very exciting moment for us, and we are working closely with our strategic partners to set up many more innovative solutions for our consumers. This partnership with Nordic Innovation and Fortum Charge and is a testimonial to these efforts. Through this association, we at BYPL aim to reiterate our commitment to energy efficiency and sustainable growth. We plan to install more such smart public EV charging stations in the future.”

The companies say that current Indian manufactured EV chargers do not have smart load balancing capability. Hence, identification of right charger and procurement was undertaken in the initial 6 months from the date of signing the agreement. The new chargers have been integrated to Fortum’s Charger Management System (CMS).

This conveniently located smart-managed EV charging station, which can charge five e-vehicles simultaneously, is co-located at BYPL’s 11 kV Sub Station building in Mayur Vihar Extension Phase I. The carefully selected site is a gateway to Noida and can be easily accessed by EV users and EV fleet operators. Depending on the response, more such smart EV charging stations will be rolled-out in South, West, East and Central Delhi.

The total electrical load of three chargers i.e., of 112kW, electricity charges, adequate parking of vehicles per charger, and EV testing arrangements will be managed by BYPL, whereas, procurement of chargers, smart integration with the back end (CMS), demonstration of load balancing by at different input load, and understanding the impact of reliably serving to customers will be managed by Fortum Charge & Drive. Before the deployment of chargers, BYPL will provision and arrange the load and parking mechanism.

The demand-side management of EV through CMS and Smart Charging infrastructure will be undertaken on a fixed input mode from the Distribution Transformer. The input load from the Distribution Transformer will then be taken offline, to initiate the mutually defined frequency for impact assessment on EV testing under the defined load.

 The smart charging station being set-up is truly smart and equipped with an ‘analytic platform’, which will help EV owners get a seamless digital experience. The EV chargers at the outlet are being integrated with a mobile application that enables end consumers to locate, pre-book an appointment and even pay at the EV Charging Station. It will be available on both Android and iOS platforms.