Engineer: Besty Chen Tel: +86 18761509710 E-mail: besty.chen@email.acrel.cn
Jiangsu Acrel Electrical MFG Co. Ltd
(1) Macro Background of Industry Development
Policy guidance provides a clear direction, market demand drives growth, and zero-carbon targets force transformation. The industry is facing new opportunities for transportation-energy integration.
1. Policy Guidance
Combined efforts at national and local levels: The national level requires highway charging stations to be equipped with photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage systems, promoting transportation-energy integration. Provinces like Zhejiang and Jiangsu have introduced subsidy and electricity price optimization policies, significantly lowering project implementation barriers and accelerating standardized industry development.
2. Surge in Market Demand
Demand for long-distance travel in new energy vehicles continues to rise, resulting in a huge peak-to-valley difference in charging load. The existing regional power grid capacity is saturated, and transformer expansion involves long cycles and high construction costs, making it difficult to match the rapidly growing demand for charging facility construction along highways.
3. Forced Transformation due to Zero-Carbon Assessment
The carbon emission share of the transportation sector remains high, and zero-carbon service areas have become a mandatory assessment indicator for the transportation industry. Traditional thermal power supply models have high carbon emissions, making clean energy alternatives an inevitable choice for the sustainable development of the highway industry.
(2) Five Core Industry Pain Points
1. High Electricity Costs and Difficulty in Grid Expansion
The industry implements a two-part electricity tariff. During peak hours, demand charges and basic electricity fees combine to result in persistently high electricity expenses. Existing transformer capacity is approaching saturation, while grid expansion involves cumbersome approval procedures and high renovation costs, placing a heavy cost burden on highway operating units.
2. Insufficient Local New Energy Consumption and High Grid-Connection Compliance Risks
There is ample potential for PV installation along highways, but the grid's capacity to absorb this power is limited. During midday peak PV generation, "PV curtailment" is likely to occur. Excess power fed back into the public grid can easily trigger penalty fines from the grid operator, preventing the effective realization of returns on PV project investments.
3. Inconsistent Power Supply Reliability Along the Route
The power grid in remote highway sections is weak, leading to frequent power outages. Traditional diesel backup generators have high operating costs and severe exhaust pollution. A power outage for critical loads like tunnels and toll stations can directly paralyze operations across the entire line.
4. Weak Collaborative Intelligence Among Multiple Devices and Prominent Data Silos
PV, energy storage, charging piles, power distribution, and other equipment operate independently without a unified energy management platform, preventing data interoperability. Routine operation and maintenance rely on manual on-site inspections, lacking online fault warning mechanisms. This results in delayed fault response and generally low O&M efficiency.
5. Lack of Carbon Management System, Unquantifiable Energy Savings and Emission Reduction Results
There is a lack of systematic tools for carbon emission statistics, accounting, and optimization control. Clean energy generation and actual carbon reduction cannot be accurately measured, making it difficult to meet the zero-carbon service area assessment requirements under the dual carbon goals.
II. Overall Solution Design
(1) Core Design Philosophy
Adhering to four design principles: "Scenario Customization, Safety and Reliability, Intelligent Collaboration, and Zero-Carbon Emission Reduction." Centered on refined full-link energy management and control, the goal is to build a stable and sustainable green energy ecosystem.
(2) Three-Layer Overall System Architecture
1. Device Layer – Terminal Execution Units
As the physical hardware foundation of the entire energy system, this layer integrates PV modules, integrated energy storage systems, a full range of smart charging piles, high-precision metering instruments, and relay protection devices. It completes the hardware implementation for clean energy generation, electrical energy storage, and load consumption.
2. Coordination and Control Layer – Local Smart Brain
Relying on the ACCU Coordination Controller + Microgrid Energy Management System, this layer implements localized real-time energy control strategies. It coordinates the operation of multiple devices like PV, storage, charging piles, and backup power to ensure stable and safe dispatch of the energy system at a single station.
3. Cloud Platform Layer – Global Control Center
Based on the EMS3.0 Smart Energy Cloud Platform, this layer enables centralized remote monitoring of all stations along the line, early warning of equipment failures, energy consumption and efficiency data analysis, and automated carbon emission accounting. Through remote O&M and big data intelligent analysis, it continuously optimizes the overall operational efficiency of the entire road network's energy system.
III. Specialized Solutions by Scenario
(1) Core Scenario: Highway Service Areas
As the main electricity-consuming units on highways, service areas have conditions suitable for installing large PV carports. However, they face significant fluctuations in charging pile load and limited existing transformer capacity. The core project objectives are to reduce electricity expenses, expand charging bays, and maximize local consumption of PV power.
(2) Scenario 2: Toll Stations and Tunnels
These scenarios have stable electricity loads and high requirements for supply continuity. The solution involves configuring small integrated PV-storage units with supporting relay protection devices. This enables self-consumption of PV power, peak shaving and valley filling through storage, emergency power supply during faults, and mitigation of power quality issues like harmonics and voltage deviations.
(3) Scenario 3: Remote Maintenance Camps
Addressing the pain points of weak power grids in remote sections and long-term reliance on diesel generators for power supply, this solution adopts an integrated PV-Storage-Diesel approach. PV and storage serve as the primary power sources, with diesel generators as backup. This can reduce fuel consumption by over 30%, achieving routine green and low-carbon power supply.
(4) Scenario 4: Scattered Distribution Stations Along the Highway
To address the large peak-to-valley load differences and difficulties in grid expansion approval at distribution stations, the solution deploys distributed energy storage systems. Leveraging peak-valley price arbitrage and flexible capacity expansion technologies, and through lightweight retrofitting, it achieves cost reduction, efficiency improvement, and optimized load operation for these stations along the route.
IV. Core Technologies and Product Portfolio
(1) Six Core Intelligent Control Strategies
1. Strategy for Maximizing Local PV Consumption
Matches PV generation output with on-site load demand in real-time, prioritizing the consumption of clean power locally. This increases the system's PV self-consumption rate to over 85%, significantly reducing the site's reliance on the public grid.
2. Peak-Valley Arbitrage and Demand Optimization Strategy
Implements a refined charging/discharging strategy ("charge during valley periods, discharge during peak periods") to reduce peak demand charges. Uses storage to smooth instantaneous load fluctuations, avoiding the investment in large-scale transformer capacity expansion, and continuously reduces overall operating costs.
3. Collaborative and Orderly Charging Strategy for PV-Storage-Charging
Dynamically and intelligently allocates charging pile output power based on real-time traffic flow and PV generation forecasts. While ensuring normal vehicle charging, this strategy smooths peak loads on the grid, alleviating pressure on the regional power supply.
4. Millisecond-Level Seamless On-Grid/Off-Grid Switching Strategy
The system possesses millisecond-level response capability. In the event of a grid fault or sudden power outage, it instantly switches from on-grid to islanded operation, ensuring uninterrupted power supply for critical loads such as toll stations, tunnels, and data rooms.
5. Multi-Energy Linkage Strategy for PV-Storage-Diesel
Coordinates the operating conditions of PV, storage, and diesel generators. It stabilizes the operation of diesel units, reduces start/stop wear and fuel consumption, lowers exhaust emissions, and achieves low-carbon O&M.
6. Comprehensive Security Protection Strategy
Integrates multiple active protection mechanisms including over-voltage, over-current, anti-islanding, battery safety management, and reverse power flow prevention. It fully complies with grid connection codes, ensuring the safe and stable operation of storage, distribution, and charging equipment.
(2) Self-Developed Full-Series Hardware Product Portfolio
The solution features a full range of self-developed software and hardware products with deep compatibility between devices. From storage units and control hubs to terminal power consumption equipment, it builds a stable system ecosystem, ensuring reliable operation throughout the project's lifecycle.
1. Integrated Energy Storage System
Covers small, medium, and large capacity storage scenarios. Utilizes an efficient liquid cooling solution for stable and reliable operation, adaptable to the storage, dispatch, and control needs of different sized sites.
2. Intelligent Control Hub (ACCU Coordination Controller)
As the core of microgrid dispatch, it works with the EMS to achieve collaborative linkage of multiple device types and intelligent optimization of energy strategies, enhancing clean energy utilization efficiency.
3. Charging Communication Terminals
Covers a full range of DC and AC charging piles to meet the charging needs of various new energy vehicles. Uses communication management units to enable data interoperability between charging piles, storage, and PV equipment, ensuring the safe operation of the charging network.
4. Metering, Protection, and Power Quality Assurance System
Equipped with high-precision multi-function meters and various relay protection devices, it monitors grid parameters online in real-time. It proactively addresses power quality issues like harmonics and voltage fluctuations, creating a strong defense line for the safe and stable operation of the entire energy system.
V. Comprehensive Benefits and Implementation Outlook
(1) Comprehensive Benefits from Three Dimensions
1. Economic Benefits
Reduced Electricity Costs: Overall electricity costs can decrease by 30%-50% after project implementation, eliminating the high cost of transformer expansion and significantly reducing basic operating expenses.
Expanded Revenue Streams: New charging bays directly increase station operating income. Participation in market-based transactions like spot electricity markets and demand response can unlock diverse revenue models.
Cost Reduction for Remote Sections: Clean energy replaces traditional diesel generation, reducing fuel consumption by over 30% and effectively cutting O&M costs in remote areas.
2. Safety Benefits
Ensured Operational Continuity: Leveraging the islanding emergency power supply capability of storage provides reliable backup power for critical loads along the route, avoiding the risk of full-line operation interruption caused by grid outages.
Extended Equipment Lifespan: Actively addressing power quality issues, suppressing harmonics and voltage fluctuations, reduces the probability of faults and damage to distribution and charging equipment, extending their service life.
Compliance and Risk Mitigation: The entire solution fully complies with the national grid's technical access specifications, eliminating risks of penalties and mandatory rectification for illegal reverse power transmission at both hardware and strategic levels.
3. Environmental and Social Benefits
Supporting Dual Carbon Goals through Low-Carbon Emission Reduction: The project can save hundreds of tons of standard coal annually, significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions like CO₂ and sulfides, aiding the transportation industry in meeting its dual carbon assessment targets.
Improved Public Highway Travel Experience: PV charging carports offer sunshade and rain protection. Combined with orderly charging strategies, they alleviate holiday charging queues, resolving range anxiety for EV owners.
Creating an Industry Demonstration Model: Forming a replicable and scalable model for highway transportation-energy integration, setting a benchmark for the green and low-carbon transformation of highways.
(2) Classic Implementation and Demonstration Cases
1. Henan Highway Source-Grid-Load-Storage Integration Project
Deployed Acrel's microgrid energy management system across the entire route, achieving centralized remote control for multiple stations at the network level. The local PV consumption rate increased to over 85%, significantly optimizing the overall energy utilization efficiency of the road network.
2. Hubei Jingzhou East "PV-Storage-Charging-Swapping" Demonstration Station
The first national demonstration project for an integrated smart microgrid involving PV, storage, charging, and swapping. The station's power operating costs dropped significantly, and the project reduces annual carbon emissions by over 1,000 tons, achieving a win-win for economic and ecological benefits.
3. Qinghai Jiaxi Highway Zero-Carbon Service Area
A megawatt-level "PV-Storage-Charging-Smart" integrated demonstration project. Adapted to high-altitude, cold, and remote operating conditions, it can operate stably over the long term in extreme natural environments, setting a benchmark for zero-carbon service areas in high-cold regions of China.
