New White Paper Release: ACER’s Amendment Proposals for the European Grid Codes

The role of electric vehicles in Europe's electricity grid is becoming increasingly important. The increasing number of electric vehicles represents a challenge for electricity grids, particularly in the context of the energy transition, but also an opportunity. Load peaks and, thus, grid instabilities can be induced by charging electric vehicles but can also be compensated, for example, in the case of volatile electricity generation from renewables.

The European legislator has recognized the need for uniform grid connection requirements for electric vehicles (EVs) and electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) and has commissioned the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) to expand the existing set of European Grid Codes to include the connection of EVs and EVSE. At the end of 2023, ACER submitted amendment proposals for the Grid Codes to the European Commission.

The drafts contain several changes that are intended to harmonize the requirements for the integration of EVs into the electricity grid across Europe and improve the stability and resilience of the electricity grid in view of the increasing number of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) electric vehicles. They will also help to ensure that V2G EVs can provide valuable ancillary services to the grid, such as frequency regulation and reactive power compensation. These support services are essential for maintaining the balance between electricity supply and demand in real-time. If the European Commission follows ACER’s proposals, the updated grid connection requirements can be expected to be applied by the end of this decade.

This whitepaper aims to clarify ACER's proposed requirements for EVs and electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) in the V2G context, outline the necessary actions for affected stakeholders, and detail the forthcoming steps in the legislative process.