The 8th thematical workshop was held by the China Clean Transportation Partnership (CCTP) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), with the attendance of policy researchers, policy makers and interested parties. The workshop targeted at charging infrastructure as well as problems and solutions on the integration process of electric vehicles and power grids.

Background

CCTP Eighth Theme Salon

In recent years, the number of electric vehicles in China has grown rapidly, and the demand for charging will play a key role in the energy saving and emission reduction of the entire power system. Electric vehicles, like energy storage, distributed energy, and demand response, may become resources of equal value to power generation. Thanks to the dual stimulus of policies and market, China has become the fastest-growing country in charging infrastructure. Continuous breakthroughs in advanced charging technology, persistent emergence of new operating models, and the improvement of the charging facility service network strongly support the promotion and application of electric vehicles. Although China's electric vehicle charging infrastructure industry has first-mover advantages, the foundation is still not solid. Therefore, it is important to design a sustainable business model that can support the interconnection of cars and networks. How to achieve effective utilization of existing charging facilities through cross-department and cross-industry cooperation is an important issue that needs to be solved urgently. How can charging facilities and service providers help the integration of electric vehicles and the grid? What requirements are needed to be an aggregator ? How to optimize the layout of charging facilities?

Discussion

The salon was chaired by Ms. Mona Yew, the Director of Clean Power Project and the Deputy Director of the China Program Natural Resources Defense Council . At the meeting, Ms. Hyoung Mi Kim, the Senior Utility Specialist of Natural Resources Defense Council, and Ms. Juan Liu, the Senior Product Manager of NIO Inc., gave their leading speeches. Kim introduced the status quo of Shanghai as a grid resource pilot. Considering that Shanghai has an efficient demand response mechanism, it is feasible to incorporate electric vehicles into grid resources in the manner of valley filling and peak cutting. Liu discussed the interaction between electric vehicles and the power grid from three aspects: opportunity, time and challenge, and introduced NIO’s attempts in orderly charging.

During the discussion in the salon, Mr. Jian Liu, the Associate Researcher of Energy Research Institute of National Development and Reform Commission, Mr. Fan Zhang, the Director of Comprehensive Department of China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance, Mr. Biao Li, the President of BAIC TELD (Beijing) Amperex Technology Co., Ltd, Mr. Zhehai Shao, the Chief Expert of Potevio New Energy Co., Ltd, Mr. Fei Han, the Head of North China Charging Department of Xpeng Motors, Mr. Sidong Zhang, the Commercial Director of YKC, and Mr. Hebing Mao, the General Manager Assistant of Jiangsu NEV Intelligent Energy Equipment Innovation Center, expounded viewpoints and made suggestions from different perspectives on challenges faced by service providers, charging infrastructure requirements, and optimizing the layout of charging facilities. Guests from GIZ, Shanghai Electric Vehicle Public Data Collecting, Monitoring and Research Center, China EV100, EV Power, World Resources Institute, Rocky Mountain Institute, Institute for Transportation & Development Policy, Innovation Center for Energy and Transportation, BP Oil, and Byton attended and participated in discussions.

Dr. Feng An , Executive Director of CCTP Executive Committee and Executive Director of the Innovation Center for Energy and Transportation, and Mr. Jianhua Chen, the Project Officer of Transportation Program of Energy Foundation summarized the meeting and concluded the salon with lively discussions.

*Experts' opinions are edited by the CCTP secretariat and published as "Opinions" on CCTP’s WeChat official account.

The guests of this workshop come from the following institutions : 

(in no particular order)

Energy Foundation
Innovation Center for Energy and Transportation
Natural Resources Defense Council
Energy Research Institute of National Development and Reform Commission
China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance
China EV100
Shanghai Electric Vehicle Public Data Collecting, Monitoring and Research Center
GIZ
Rocky Mountain Institute
World Resources Institute
Institute for Transportation & Development Policy
NIO Inc.
Guangzhou Xiaopeng Motors Technology Co Ltd
BAIC TELD (Beijing) Amperex Technology Co., Ltd EV Power
BP Oil
YKC
Jiangsu Innovation Center for NEV Smart Energy Equipments
Potevio New Energy Co., Ltd