Public EV charging stations should be switched off between the peak hours of 4pm and 9pm to avoid network capacity problems, Dutch regional grid operator Stedin has said.

According to the grid operator, the power grid is so overtaxed during those peak hours that it is “bursting at the seams” and risking power outages.Switching off the public EV-chargers would prevent some 1.5 million households from experiencing stoppages during peak hours when hybrid pumps, induction cookers are already putting pressure on the network.

The Dutch electric car fleet is forecast to grow from 450,000 vehicles to around two million in 2030. Stedin expects that 20 percent of large cities’ power grid capacity will go to public charging stations in the coming years. For every charging station that is turned off during the evening peak, a new home can be connected to the electricity grid, Stedin calculated.

Stedin is investing eight billion euros over the next six years to expand the grid, but that will not be sufficient to  prevent capacity problems, said Stedin chairman Koen Bogers. “But if we all adapt our behaviour, providers can free up capacity and use it for the businesses, new builds and schools on their waiting lists,” he said. Last week, grid operators said electricity networks in many parts of the country are reaching the limits of their capacity, resulting in waiting lists totaling some 9,400 businesses.

Electric car drivers association (VER) said it understands the need for “smart charging” but said drivers need “charge security”. “This is a bit drastic,” spokesman Rober van Gent said. “We want charging stations that react to an imminent overload by lowering capacity.”

Van Gent fears that Stedin’s call to switch off public charging stations will be a further blow to efforts to encourage people to drive electric cars.
Stedin operates the grid in the provinces of Utrecht, Zeeland and -the biggest part of- Zuid-Holland. The company has 2.3 million customers.