Modelling Electricity Supply for EV Charging Demand with GAMS

Jakarta, 23-25 September 2020

To support the development of electric vehicles in Indonesia, the Directorate General of Electricity, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, in collaboration with the Asia Pacific Energy Research Center (APERC), conducted virtual training on Electricity Supply Model for Electric Vehicles Charging Demand. It aims to share modelling experiences and expertise and build the capacity of relevant stakeholders in the country, including the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Ministry of National Development Planning, PT PLN, and ASEAN Center for Energy (ACE). From ASEAN Climate Change and Energy Project (ACCEPT), Richard and Zulfikar Yurnaidi also joined the training.

The training was divided into three half-day sessions, 23-25 September 2020. It was opened by the Director of Electricity Program and Supervision, Mr. Jisman Hutajulu. Following that, the president of APERC, Dr. Kazutomo Irie, provided opening remarks for all participants. Serving as the moderator was Mr. Bintar Abdillah from the Directorate General of Electricity.

The training began with an introductory session by Mr. Edito Barcelona, Senior Research Fellow of APERC, who shared a presentation on the Overview of APEC Electric Vehicles: Policy and Development. Here, participants got valuable information about the condition of electric vehicles, forms of support from the government, and simulations of electric vehicle (EV) charging in Asia.

The next trainer was Dr. Gigih Adi Utomo, Senior Visiting Researcher of APERC. He explained the impact of EV on electricity costs and CO2 emissions. He shared that the careless use of EVs will overload the grid system and result in higher emissions. Therefore, it is important for the government to be able to make suitable regulations, so that one of the objectives of EV, namely, to reduce emissions, can be realized. The first day ended with a general introduction to the input file for the modelling.

On the second and third day, participants focused on simulating the impacts of EV charging demand on electricity generation costs and related emissions, mainly NOx. The simulation utilises the General Algebraic Modelling System (GAMS). APERC already developed a GAMS-based model for its APEC Energy Demand and Supply Outlook. EV modelling is based on that model. Some explored scenarios are related to charging patterns. For example, the charging period can be designed to match the off-peak demand. Another scenario is related to the increasing charging demand due to the higher amount of EV. From that charging demand, what would be the required electricity supply? Will it use RE or conventional sources? Through the assessment of scenarios, we can explore how to minimise the generation cost and emissions.

In between the simulation exercises, Dr. Gigih and Mr. Edito discussed issues and questions raised by participants. For example, what would be the effectiveness of EV on reducing emissions? What about the readiness of countries in Asia, especially Indonesia? To face the EV era, what are the potential applications of EV batteries other than providing power to EVs? Some questions also dig deeper into the model itself, such as the representation of season and weather in time slice, and whether it will affect the RE supply, as raised by Zulfikar.

As this was the first online training held by APERC, several challenges were found due to the limitation of one-on-one interaction. But overall, the training was quite conducive and succeeded in conveying important information related to modelling using GAMS. Some supporting materials were also shared with participants who are interested in exploring the model further.

As argued by our researchers, Southeast Asia could see a post-pandemic EV revolution. To prepare for that, governments should focus on not only the vehicle itself but also the electricity demand and supply. Some modelling works can be proven beneficial for policymakers in assessing scenarios and designing supporting policies.

(ZY/R)

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