Fortum Charge & Drive India, a leading Nordic Electric Vehicle (EV) charging service provider in agreement with BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL), a leading power distribution company, has launched the pilot project on load balancing in New Delhi.

The pilot project will focus on managing charging by balancing dynamic demand from EVs with static load input from BYPL in the smart chargers provided by Fortum Charge & Drive (Fortum C&D). The tenure of the pilot project is for one year. Over the next few months, Fortum will analyse the project capability under varying load & demand response scenarios through its proprietary back end and Fortum C&D India consumer Appi, enabling a smart & innovative model for operating EV charging infrastructure networks.

As part of the agreement, a total of three chargers (five charging points) will be deployed in Mayur Vihar Extension Phase I, New Delhi, built & operated by Fortum C&D India, offering complete system integration and software as a service (SaaS) for operating EV charging infrastructure networks and customer interfaces to other distribution utilities and charge point operators (CPOs). The carefully selected site is a gateway to Noida and can be easily accessed by EV users and EV fleet operators. 

More smart EV charging stations will be rolled out in South, West, East and Central Delhi, depending on the response. The capacity of the three deployed chargers will be 60kW DC (CCS), 30kW DC (DC001) (2X15kW guns) and 22kW (Type-II AC), respectively and will be transferred to BYPL at the end of the pilot project.

The project was inaugurated by the Hon'ble DERC Chairperson Justice Shabihul Hasnain ‘Shastri' and DERC Member Dr A K Ambasht. Other dignitaries present on occasion included A K Singhal (Advisor & Former Member, DERC), Dr Jukka Holappa (Commercial Counsellor & Country Director - India, Business Finland) and officials from Fortum Charge and Drive. BSES team was represented by Amal Sinha (Director, BSES), Amarjeet Singh (CEO, BYPL), Rajesh Bansal (CEO, BRPL) and senior discom officials.

Speaking on the partnership, Awadhesh Jha, Executive Director, Fortum Charge & Drive India, said, "We are happy to collaborate with BSES Yamuna Power Limited on the country's first of its kind load balancing pilot project to shave the power demand during peak hours. Fortum Charge & Drive has been working closely with ecosystem partners across the country to facilitate EV charging infrastructure and create solutions to operate with minimal restrictions. This project will augment our efforts in laying a strong foundation to enable smooth functioning of EVs across the country by creating a widespread network of charging solutions that the vehicle owners and operators can rely on."

The current Indian manufactured EV chargers do not have smart load balancing capability. Hence, identification of suitable charger and procurement was undertaken in the initial six months from signing the agreement. The new chargers have been integrated into Fortum's Charger Management System (CMS).

The total electrical load of three chargers, i.e., 112kW, electricity charges, adequate parking of vehicles per charger, and EV testing arrangements, will be managed by BYPL. Fortum Charge & Drive will manage the procurement of chargers, smart integration with the back end (CMS), demonstration of load balancing at different input loads, and understanding the impact of reliably serving to customers will be managed by Fortum Charge & Drive. Before deploying chargers, BYPL will provision and arrange the load and parking mechanism.

The demand-side management of EV through CMS & Smart Charging infrastructure will be undertaken on a fixed input mode from the distribution transformer). The input load from the distribution transformer will then be taken offline to initiate the mutually defined frequency for an impact assessment on EV testing under the defined load.

The smart charging station is truly smart and equipped with an ‘analytic platform', which will help EV owners get a seamless digital experience. The EV chargers at the outlet are being integrated with a mobile application that enables end consumers to locate, pre-book an appointment and even pay at the EV charging station. It will be available on both Android & iOS platforms.