electric vehicle smart charging trials

Electric Vehicle Smart ChargingTrials

Funding Guidelineselectricvehicles.sa.gov.au

http://electricvehicles.sa.gov.au

We acknowledge that work undertaken to develop the Electric Vehicle Smart Charging Trials took place predominantly on the traditional lands of the Kaurna people, and we respect their spiritual relationship with their country.

We also acknowledge the Kaurna people as the custodians of the Adelaide region and that their cultural and heritage beliefs are still as important to the living Kaurna people today.

We also pay respects to the cultural authority of Traditional Owners from other areas across Australia, where work was undertaken by a number of stakeholders to provide input into these Funding Guidelines.

We acknowledge Elders past and present, and remain humbled by the ancient knowledge systems from which we can all learn.

Acknowledgment

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1. Introduction 4

2. Objectives 6

3. Method of Funding 7

3.1. EV Smart Charging Trials Grant Funding 7

3.2. Potential for funding from ARENA 7

4. Funding Streams 8

1. Virtual Power Plant (VPP) 8

2. Apartment Living 8

3. Adelaide CBD off-street car parks (non-ancillary) 9

4. Hotels, motels and holiday parks 9

5. Commercial fleet 10

6. Public rapid charging network 10

5. Eligibility 11

6. Proposal Assessment 12

6.1. Key Assessment Criteria 12

6.2. Assessment 12

7. How to Submit a proposal 13

7.1. Information Requirements 13

7.2. Confidentiality and Commercial-in-Confidence considerations 13

7.3. Copyright 14

7.4. Miscellaneous 14

Table of Contents

4 Government of South Australia December 2020Electric Vehicle Smart Charging Trials

South Australia has rapidly transformed its electricity system from coal and gas powered to more than 50 per cent renewable generation in less than two decades. We aspire to achieve net 100 per cent renewable electricity generation by 2030, and reduce South Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 per cent by 2030, on the way to net zero emissions by 2050.

Electric vehicles (EVs) will make an important contribution to achieving these ambitious goals.

South Australia’s national leadership in electric vehicle uptake will harness smart charging and renewable energy to make more efficient use of our electricity network to deliver nationally and internationally competitive electricity costs for all South Australians. As a key structural change to South Australia’s energy market, transport electrification could deliver bill reductions of $20 to $84 per annum in 2025, increasing to $95 to $324 per annum in 2030, depending on rates of EV uptake and widespread adoption of smart charging behaviours at home and work.

Unlike conventional fossil fuel vehicles, which are parked and not delivering value for approximately 90 per cent of each day, smart and two-way charging will enable EVs to generate new revenue streams when they are parked and plugged in. Managed well, EVs will integrate seamlessly within our homes and businesses.

With more than half of our electricity being generated by renewable resources, and our world-leading energy storage capabilities, South Australia is well placed to have a zero emissions fuel supply for electric vehicles. With on-board batteries that are up to eight times larger than home energy storage systems, the convergence of sustainable energy, transport and smart charging technologies will mean that EVs will be a tremendous resource for the management of our electricity system.

On 13 September 2020, the State Government announced an initial investment of $4.9 million to support implementation of South Australia’s Electric Vehicle Action Plan, including up to $3.6 million for Electric Vehicle Smart Charging Trials (EV Smart Charging Trials).

The EV Smart Charging Trials will support market-led proposals that bring forward public demonstrations of consumer focussed smart charging solutions. Successful proposals will address integration risks and service gaps to enable households and businesses to harness South Australia’s abundant renewable electricity supply and bring forward consumer adoption of EVs.

The EV Smart Charging Trials seek proposals in the following priority areas:

• Virtual Power Plant integration;

• Apartment living, including shared electric vehicles;

• Off-street car parks;

• Hotel, motel and holiday parks EV charging;

• Commercial; and

• Public charging time-of-use pricing.

Funding will be disbursed as grant funding.

As well as improving affordability, reliability and security of electricity supply through strong integration of smart EV charging, proposals supported by the EV Smart Charging Trials are also expected to bring about broader community benefits such as job creation and local industry development.

The EV Smart Charging Trials will be administered by the South Australian Department for Energy and Mining (DEM).

These Funding Guidelines (Guidelines) provide guidance for applicants submitting a proposal for funding from the EV Smart Charging Trials by describing:

• objectives of the EV Smart Charging Trials;

• method of investing;

• funding streams;

• essential eligibility criteria;

• proposal assessment; and

• how to submit a proposal.

DEM reserves the right to vary these Guidelines as appropriate.

Introduction1

On 13 September 2020, the State Government announced an initial investment of $4.9 million to support implementation of South Australia’s Electric Vehicle Action Plan, including up to $3.6 million for Electric Vehicle Smart Charging Trials.

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The EV Smart Charging Trials seek to accelerate private sector deployment of smart charging products, services, and market-based incentives to generate and share knowledge that will shape industry opportunities and influence long-term customer practices.

Objective 1

Accelerate private sector investment in the deployment of EV charging products, services and market based demonstrations in South Australia that:

a) are ‘smart’* in that they mitigate risks of uncontrolled EV charging by:

i. aligning electricity demand for EV charging with periods of high renewable energy generation and/or low market demand

ii. coordinating EV discharging with periods of low renewable energy generation and/or high market demand

iii. entrenching smart charging into industry and consumer preferences and practices.

b) directly accelerate EV uptake;

c) are scalable; and

d) complement public charging services.

Objective 2

Generate and share knowledge about charging patterns and preferences, and the financial benefits of smart charging and electric vehicle ownership.

Objectives2

*Smart charging products and services could include: integration of EV batteries into virtual power plants (VPPs); implementation of market linked time-of-use pricing and moderated output on public EV charging; integration of vehicle to grid, home or workplaces; and co-location and co-ordination of EV charging with other flexible or demand responsive loads. Respondents should outline in their proposal any Australian or international demand response capability standards that their product/s meet, or will be designed to meet.

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3.1. EV Smart Charging Trials Grant Funding

DEM will give consideration to all grant funding requests in eligible proposals. Grant funding may be provided to address commercial gaps and/or as a capital contribution to enable public demonstrations that have clear pathways to broader market deployment and result in knowledge acquisition and sharing.

Grant funding may be provided:

• in a phased approach, based on the achievement of pre-agreed performance metrics; or

• in another form at the discretion of DEM.

Successful applicants will be required to enter into a Funding Agreement based on the Government of South Australia’s standards terms and conditions.

Failure to maintain agreed targets or performance levels may result in a request for all or part of the grant to be repaid.

3.2. Potential for funding from ARENA

Applicants may be able to seek co-funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

Applicants wishing to seek co-funding from both the EV Smart Charging Trials and ARENA will need to submit separate applications to the EV Smart Charging Trials and ARENA.

An applicant with an existing application with ARENA will not be required to submit a new application to ARENA however will be required to demonstrate the additionality to any ARENA project to both ARENA and DEM.

DEM is under no obligation to provide co-funding to any proposals funded by ARENA, nor is ARENA obligated to co-fund in any proposals the EV Smart Charging Trials invests in.

The Applicant must declare this information in its proposal to the EV Smart Charging Trials and to ARENA.

Existing applications currently being assessed by ARENA will not automatically be shortlisted by DEM under the EV Smart Charging Trials.

Method of Funding3


The EV Smart Charging Trials seek proposals for funding in six different streams:

1. Virtual Power Plant (VPP)

1.1. Unmanaged charging on household or workplace power points could adversely impact upon peak electricity demand between 5pm to 9pm November to March.

1.2. Managed well, integration of electric vehicle charging into VPPs could provide a new flexible source of electricity demand during periods of high renewable electricity generation and/or low network demand.

1.3. Proposals are sought that:

1.3.1. Integrate smart charging into a South Australian VPP;

1.3.2. Displace unmanaged power points as the default approach for home or workplace charging;

1.3.3. Can be expanded to integrate and coordinate greater than 100 smart ≥7kW unidirectional (one-way) chargers in new or existing premises;

1.3.4. Integrate bi-directional (two-way) vehicle to grid, home or workplace chargers or unidirectional chargers with a clear pathway to bi-directional;

1.3.5. Manage onsite generation to maximise electricity imports for charging and other uses during periods when high renewable electricity generation contributes to negative wholesale pricing and/or very low statewide grid demand;

1.3.6. Demonstrate VPP revenue streams to provide market based incentives to accelerate EV uptake; and

1.3.7. Quantify the energy storage potential and benefits if South Australia’s EV fleet is incentivised to maximise connection time and defer top-up charging to harness high renewable generation and/or low grid demand.

2. Apartment living

2.1. Governance and infrastructure constraints can impact on resident access to on-site EV charging.


2.2.1. Integrate four or more smart >7kW unidirectional chargers onto a site where there are existing EVs or binding commitments to purchase or lease two or more EVs;

2.2.2. Integrate bi-directional charger/s;

2.2.3. Bring forward onsite electric vehicle car share – four or more smart >7kW chargers (may be spread across multiple sites on a charger per EV basis or alternative model that optimises utilisation);

2.2.4. Deploy managed charging services with time-of-use pricing models that defer top-up charging to capture value from high renewable generation and/or low grid electricity demand, particularly between 10am and 3pm; and

2.2.5. Overcome barrier/s to cost recovery for resident charging of vehicles.

Funding Streams4

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3. Adelaide CBD off-street car parks (non-ancillary)

3.1. There are more than 26,600 off-street parking bays in multi-storey public car park buildings in the City of Adelaide municipal area.

3.2. These facilities will be important enablers of EV uptake by fleets, commuters and visitors.

3.3. Securing the agreement of public car park owners and/or operators to install charging stations is currently a barrier to EV uptake.


3.4.1. Integrate six or more smart >7kW unidirectional chargers;


3.4.3. Bring forward business and service models that could be rapidly scaled to meet the EV charging needs of fleet operators;

3.4.4. Deploy managed charging services that defer top-up charging to capture value from high renewable generation and/or low grid electricity demand between 10am and 3pm;

3.4.5. Demonstrate VPP revenue streams to provide market based incentives to accelerate EV uptake; and

3.4.6. Quantify the energy storage potential and benefits if South Australia’s EV fleet is incentivised to maximise connection time and defer top-up charging to harness high renewable generation and/or low grid demand.

4. Hotels, motels and holiday parks

4.1. These facilities could play an important role in away-from-home and commercial fleet EV charging.

4.2. Integration of energy storage into caravans, camp trailers and unmanaged charging of EVs could exacerbate this trend.


4.3.1. Deploy six or more smart user pays EV charging services to rooms, cabins, and powered caravan and camping sites;


4.3.3. Demonstrate time-of-use pricing and service models that encourage consumers to use electricity more efficiently and to capture value from high renewable generation and/or low grid electricity demand between 10am and 3pm and overnight; and

4.3.4. Overcome barrier/s to uptake of EVs and cost recovery for EV charging.


5. Commercial fleet

5.1. Workplace charging will support electric vehicle uptake and increase daytime charging.

5.2. Disruptions caused by COVID-19 have significantly increased demand for home or workplace delivery services, bringing forward the need for electrification of light commercial vehicles to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions growth and reduce operating costs.

5.3. Overnight home garaging of fleet vehicles could limit access to cost effective charging, resulting in burdensome employee reimbursement and be a barrier to electric vehicle uptake for fleets, including taxis and other point-to-point vehicles.


5.4.1. Integrate four or more back to base smart >7kW unidirectional chargers on sites where there are existing EVs or binding commitments to purchase or lease two or more EVs;


5.4.3. Deploy managed charging services that defer top-up charging to capture value from high renewable generation and/or low grid electricity demand between 10am and 3pm;

5.4.4. Demonstrate time-of-use pricing models that encourage consumers to use electricity more efficiently and to capture value from high renewable generation and/or low grid electricity demand between 10am and 3pm (solar sponge) and overnight;

5.4.5. Bring forward charging solutions that capture and report odometer readings for fleet managers with charging sessions and incorporate a ‘fuel card‘ that is linked to a monthly account; and

5.4.6. Overcome barrier/s to

• contractor uptake of EVs;

• employee home charging of commercial vehicles; and

• workplace charging of employee or commercial visitor vehicles.

6. Public rapid charging network

6.1. Use of high powered public charging (≥50kW) during:

6.1.1. Peak demand periods could impact upon South Australia’s electricity system; or

6.1.2. High renewable electricity generation and/or low demand periods could realise additional benefits for all electricity customers.


6.2.1. Demonstrate time-of-use pricing models on high powered public charging stations that incentivise consumers to charge during low electricity network demand and solar sponge periods;

6.2.2. Deploy dynamic ‘surge’ pricing models that could be deployed at scale as the market develops to move demand between charging station sites in a local area or region to deliver localised grid benefits and enable financial savings for operators, EV owners and all South Australian electricity customers;

6.2.3 Analyse and report on consumer behaviours, perceptions and preferences to time of use and surge pricing models when applied to rapid public charging services; and

6.2.4 Quantify grid scale benefits of public EV charging when co-located with other flexible or demand-responsive loads, such as energy storage and hydrogen electrolysers.

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Eligible proposals must satisfy the following essential eligibility criteria to be considered for assessment:

The proposal:

• must meet the Key Assessment Criteria and Information Requirements of Sections 6 and 7 of these Funding Guidelines.

The Applicant:

• is a legal entity with which the Government of South Australia can enter into a legally binding agreement;

• has an Australian Business Number;

• is registered for GST; and

• is financially viable, as evidenced through independently prepared financial statements and records of the applicant and its related entities (for example, parent companies) which the state may require to be a party to the agreement as guarantor of both performance obligations and the repayment amount should a repayment event occur.

The Project:

• will be wholly constructed within South Australia.

Proposals seeking funding support for the sole purpose of undertaking a feasibility study will not be considered.

Proposals should demonstrate a clear short term pathway (one to three years) to at scale, mass market deployment through project partners and/or novel sales channels that could accelerate EV uptake.

Proposals should acquire, analyse and share charging behaviour data with the Government of South Australia. DEM may use this information in publicly available materials that will share knowledge about project purpose and outcomes, and the benefits of smart charging and electric vehicle ownership.

Proposals for one or more streams may involve a project constructed on a single site or across multiple sites, providing the entirety of the project lies within South Australia.

Eligibility5


6.1. Key Assessment Criteria

Proposals will be assessed according to the:

• extent that the proposal addresses one or more of the six streams;

• extent to which the project will contribute to achieving the objectives of the EV Smart Charging Trials;

• technical and financial viability of the project;

• managerial, organisational and financial capacity of the applicant to implement the proposal; and

• amount of funding sought.

A portfolio approach will be taken to fund projects across multiple funding streams.

Preference will be given to proposals for trials that can commence by 31 August 2021.

Proposals will be expected to be supported by comprehensive detailed information and records.

The Information Requirements in Section 7 set out information that is expected to be provided within proposals, including in relation to:

• the applicant;

• funding sought;

• project (detail and economic contribution);

• technical and regulatory information; and

• financial information (proposal and applicant).

The EV Smart Charging Trials reserves the right to withhold full disbursement of up to $3.6 million of grant funding if proposals received do not satisfactorily achieve the objectives of the EV Smart Charging Trials. For the same reason, DEM also reserves the right to limit its funding to one or more of the funding streams or proposals.

6.2. Assessment

DEM will assess proposals against the specified criteria. DEM may contact applicants’ nominated contact officers for clarification on aspects of their proposals. Applicants will be expected to provide a response in writing, or a copy of any additional documentation requested by DEM, within reasonable timeframes specified in DEM’s correspondence.

In assessing proposals, DEM may seek advice from subject matter experts from across government. Potential applicants should note that information received in connection with an application may be used and communicated outside the Government of South Australia for due diligence purposes and may also be provided to the Australian Government, including ARENA, and third parties engaged by DEM to assist with the assessment of the proposals received, together with trial monitoring, reporting and evaluation purposes.

Recommendations will be provided to the Minister for Energy and Mining (the Minister) to invest in one or more funding opportunities in one or more funding streams.

Proposal Assessment

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Applicants should address the Information Requirements set out below.

DEM staff are available to respond to any queries raised via email to [email protected]

All proposals must be submitted to DEM, via email, to [email protected] no later than 12pm (ACDT) Monday 15 February 2021.

7.1. Information Requirements

Proponent

• Detail on experience and expertise of the proponent and/or proponent’s consortium and allocation of roles and responsibilities;

• Examples where the proponent and/or key personnel have successfully delivered similar projects utilising similar technologies at a similar scale;

• Corporate structure diagram showing the allocation of roles to key personnel; and

• Listing of Directors of the proponent, equity participants to the project and all parent companies of all equity participants to the project.

Project

• Overview of project and key deliverables;

• Detail on the technology choice and design, including supporting documents;

• Alignment to Funding Stream/s and Objectives;

• Project plan detail including the development budget and key milestones outlining the process to financial close, site and customer recruitment, commencement of construction, commissioning and operation;

• Detail on project location including evidence of ownership or access to land and access to supporting resources;

• Status of key contracts, and partner funding and delivery agreements;

• Key benefits of the project; and

• Pathways to wider short term market deployment.

Technical

• Status of development approvals, connection investigations and land access arrangements (where applicable);

• Layout and/or system designs including plan/s;

• Australian or international demand response capability; standards that product/s meet, or will be designed to meet;

• Explanation of key functionality; and

• Overview of user inputs, outputs and user experience.

Financial

• Financial model for the life of the project, that includes:

• CAPEX, OPEX and revenue estimates providing a breakdown of key equipment costs, direct labour estimate, indirect labour estimate and alignment to the project plan;

• Clearly presented assumptions (and sources of assumptions) adopted within the financial model;

• Drawdown schedule for all sources of financing;

• The most commercial form of funding by the EV Smart Charging Trials (which could relate to the provision of services or some other form of revenue mechanism); and

• Financial model outputs.

Applicants are encouraged to provide additional information, as required, to demonstrate how their proposal best achieves the objectives of the EV Smart Charging Trials.

7.2. Confidentiality and Commercial- in-Confidence considerations

If an applicant believes that any information provided in their proposal is confidential or commercial-in-confidence, the Applicant must clearly identify such information and the reason for its confidentiality. Applicants should be aware that the EV Smart Charging Trials is subject to certain legislative and administrative accountability and transparency requirements of the Australian Government and Government of South Australia, including public disclosure in relation to funding agreements and DEM policy.

How to Submit a proposal

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mailto:electricvehicles%40sa.gov.au?subject=

mailto:electricvehicles%40sa.gov.au?subject=


Any information contained in, or relating to a proposal submitted to the EV Smart Charging Trials, including information identified by an applicant as confidential, may be disclosed by DEM:

• to its employees, advisers or third parties in order to evaluate and assess a proposal;

• within the Government of South Australia or other entities where this serves the legitimate interest of DEM;

• in response to a request by a House or Committee of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia or South Australia;

• if the proposal is successful, for promotion of project activities and outcomes;

• where information is authorised or permitted by law to be disclosed; and

• where the information is already in the public domain.

7.3. Copyright

By submitting a proposal, an applicant will be taken to:

• license the Government of South Australia to reproduce for

the purpose of this process, the whole or any portion of the

proposal despite any copyright or other intellectual property

right that may subsist; and

• transfer ownership in the documents and any other materials constituting the application or proposal to the Minister.

7.4. Miscellaneous

Proposals should provide clear information on any sensitivities the project would have to financial and other matters including changes in foreign exchange and interest rate movements. Proposals will be assessed based on the foreign exchange and interest rates prevailing at the date of proposal submission.

Foreign currency or interest rates movements after the date of proposal submission will be considered during any subsequent negotiations.

By submitting a proposal, the applicant accepts the terms of the Funding Guidelines. The state retains the right to extend, accelerate, remove, introduce or alter any element (including timetable, eligibility criteria, method of assessment, process requirements, etc.) of the Funding Guidelines at any time, at its discretion. Nothing in the Funding Guidelines will be construed as creating any binding contract, estoppel, expectation or other legal relationship (express or implied) between the applicant and the state, and each applicant irrevocably releases the state in relation to any claims, actions, damages, judgements, losses, remedies or other matters whether in contract, negligence, tort, under statute, equitable relief or otherwise, in conjunction with this process.

The state reserves the right to require suitable forms of credit support, including, without limitation, a Parent Company Guarantee in respect of the applicant’s liability under the finally agreed and executed contract and a bank guarantee or insurance bond in respect of the applicant’s obligations under such a contract with the Minister.

Further informationDepartment for Energy and Mining

T: +61 8 8226 5500 www.electricvehicles.sa.gov.au [email protected]

http://www.electricvehicles.sa.gov.au

mailto:[email protected]

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