Green technologies could lead to power outages because of their energy requirements. To avoid such a risk, the grid agency is now considering restricting e-car charging - with the ultimate goal of expanding the country's electrical infrastructure.
Increasingly, policymakers, both inside and outside Germany, are looking to electric cars as part of a more sustainable mobility revolution. But electric-powered vehicles also face headwinds, because they too have their weaknesses. Especially when it comes to the car's power supply, at a time when energy goods are becoming scarcer and more expensive. Indeed, it has become increasingly difficult to ensure that the power grid can withstand the pressure of the growing number of electric vehicles. Power outages have often occurred in the United States, for example. Now it seems that Germany also has to fear such a scenario.
"If so many new charging stations continue to be installed, then local power cuts in the distribution network are to be feared," warns Klaus Müller, head of the Federal Network Agency. The government and authorities should act quickly, Müller continues. But there should "definitely not be a complete shutdown". Rather, there is currently talk of throttling, a temporary restriction of access to charging power. According to the report, affected households will receive enough electricity for their charging stations - but not unlimited, so that the grid is not extremely overloaded. According to the proposal, the capacity should be sufficient to charge an electric car for a range of 50 kilometres in three hours. An initiative of this kind was already on the table in the past - but without finding room for implementation. However, the conditions for its necessity have become obvious to many in the meantime, so that the corresponding regulation is expected to come into force as early as 2024. Heat pumps are also to be subject to it and only receive exactly enough electricity to be able to keep up at a minimum operating standard - without causing blackouts.
At the same time, the electricity infrastructure must no longer wait for adequate expansion. And that includes speeding up the bureaucratic processes needed to do so. Only in this way could the distribution grid be expanded - and thus enable the state and citizens to explore and use the full power of electromobility. Then it would not only no longer pose a threat to the stability of the electricity grid, but would also benefit from the expansion and improvement of the infrastructure that has been necessary for years. The ecological potential of electricity should not be forgotten either. It is only really green if it comes from renewable resources, which is often not the case in Germany. An expansion of the grid therefore also offers the not insignificant possibility of freeing electric vehicles - as well as the general electricity grid - from any fossil footprint.
This would allow policymakers to continue to focus on electromobility as the centrepiece of the transport transition. Without putting the power grid at risk and at the same time, once and for all, getting away from fossil fuels in the process. However, such an undertaking could drag on for years - so in the meantime, Germany may have little choice but to at least consider charging restrictions for electric vehicles as in other countries.