CHARGE THE STREETS

On-street, lighting column-based EV charging has the potential to transform and accelerate the UK’s transition to electric. Yet many local authorities still seem to be sceptical or filing it under ‘too difficult’. This has to change, argues one charge-point operator

By James Everly

EV charging

Every industry has its rumours and half-understood concepts that, too commonly, end up passed on as fact. I still remember one year at the annual ILP conference being congratulated by someone for my recent marriage. This came somewhat as a surprise to me as I was neither engaged nor married. What did they know that I didn’t?!

Having worked both in the street lighting industry and the electric vehicle charging industry, it has become apparent to me there are a number of misconceptions circulating about both sectors. These are based on either old technology that has now been superseded or a misunderstanding of the application of certain industry rules.

There are a number of local authorities in which lighting column chargers account for over 70% of all public electric vehicle (EV) charge points.

This includes most of the London boroughs, notably the City of Westminster, Hammersmith & Fulham, Hounslow and Richmond. Looking outside of London, there is now a significant lighting column charging presence in Portsmouth, the Wirral and Brighton.

Yet our industry outside of these pockets appears to remain sceptical about the ability to use our fantastic national lighting infrastructure to help power the EV revolution. I’d argue it’s time for that to change.

Lighting columns, we all know, are valuable assets in the drive to create a zero-carbon, fully electrified transport future. More than 30% of households do not have access to off-street parking, rising to 60% in urban areas – which means that, in the years to come, millions of cars will need to be charged in places other than on driveways.

All the evidence points to overnight domestic charging being drivers’ preferred choice of charging solution, which is probably a key reason why EV ownership is so much lower in those parts of the population without driveways.

It is self-evident that government, both local and national, needs to find alternatives to address this socio-economic disparity.

Lighting columns can play a central part in solving this conundrum, especially as there are hundreds of thousands of them conveniently located in urban residential streets right outside houses without offstreet parking.

EV chargers powered from our street lighting network are low cost to install and use, present the lowest embodied carbon option, and ensure there is zero or minimal additional street clutter, whilst being quick and straightforward to install (30 minutes or less).

Furthermore, they enable residents to charge conveniently and affordably; they are the closest thing to an on-street ‘home charging’ solution.

Converting lighting columns to EV chargers will, I believe, significantly speed up the rollout of a national EV chargepoint network and help those residents parking on-street to make the switch to electric.

THE CASE FOR COLUMN EV CHARGING

Let me now turn to why I believe lighting columns are so suitable for this transformational transition, one that we most definitely need to be embracing.

1. Lighting columns offer all the power

we need. Lighting column EV chargers are governed by utility company

Elexon as part of the unmetered supply arrangements. They are nationally approved and each charger contains a measuring device which records or calculates the energy consumption to an agreed level of accuracy. Elexon has introduced a new class called ‘measured Central Management Systems’ (mCMS) specifically to deal with this technology and the current maximum load permitted using the unmetered settlement system is 25A which equates to around 5.5kW of power. To put that in context, it is similar to a domestic charge point and only 1.5kW less than the maximum AC charge accepted by almost all EVs. An overnight charge will easily fill the vast majority of EV batteries and, therefore, it is easy to see why lighting columns are a perfect alternative to domestic off-street charging.

2. Lighting columns can offer straight-

forward, swift installation. With the most up-to-date technology, it takes

EV charging

as little as 30 minutes to install an in-door charging unit to an existing column; including when moving it from one column to another.

This innovation, and a range of new products on offer, ensures no equipment needs to be installed inside the column, with everything housed in a new column door.

3. Lighting columns have the potential to offer hassle-free EV charging.

Whilst it is always advisable to consult with your distribution network operator (DNO) regarding any largescale change to your connected equipment, lighting column chargers are approved nationally and do not require any specific permissions. In practice, installing a lighting column EV charge-point on your network is much the same process as a resident having a home charger installed on their driveway. The charge-point operator (CPO) – in other words a company such as

ChargeLight – will have a formal process for notifying the applicable DNO of each charger they install. Furthermore, they have their own connection agreement with the DNO, their own Half-Hourly MPAN (meter point administration number) and their own energy supply agreement (in our case at ChargeLight that is renewable). For small-scale roll outs, installing a single charger on multiple streets will not have any impact on local network management. This contrasts, however, with rapid chargers, which must carefully consider siting requirements in collaboration with the DNO because of their potential impact on the local grid. The result is that local authorities do not have to carry out months/years of planning applications and liaison with DNOs to install the chargers.

In turn, this ensures that residents have rapid access to an EV charging network, which is urgently needed as the pace of electric car sales increases.

THE CASE FOR IN-UNIT ‘PEN’ FAULT DETECTION

The start of this year (January 2022) saw a potential game-changer finally coming through in terms of protective multiple earthing (PME) supplies now being able to be used for on-street EV chargers. To explain this fully (and bear with me, it is convoluted), you have to go back two years to February 2020.

In that month, BS 7671:2018 The IET Wiring Regulations was updated, with the introduction of Amendment 1, which was designed to facilitate devices able to undertake broken neutral fault (PEN) fault detection [1].

Whilst there was some initial concern voiced about this from DNOs about how best to facilitate these devices on-street, which resulted in an ENA (Energy Networks Association) earthing working group being set up, it should be noted that the British Standards still take precedence. As an aside (and if it helps those who may be less familiar with these issues) the ENA is an industry body funded by DNOs. It looks after the codes the industry follows, which in this case includes EREC (Engineering Recommendation) G12, which governs connections.

Following this 2018 change, the DNO Western Power Distribution (WPD), which covers most of Wales, the Midlands and south west England, did its own in-depth research and carried out a number of industry consultations. The fact of it moving faster than the other DNOs meant it became the first formally to amend its connections policy to permit these new devices for use with PME supplies (in other words, for use in all connections, on-street or otherwise). PME connections for EV chargers have, as a result, now been permitted in the four WPD network areas for at least a year now (in fact if not now closer to two).

The ENA earthing working group carried out its own due diligence and also eventually approved these devices for use, recommending that energy regulator Ofgem approve changes to G12 back in 2021. There was a slight delay in this approval process as Ofgem expressed concern the proposed requirements inserted by the ENA into G12 fell outside its remit. There was also a question around why these devices were already ‘permitted’ by DNOs for domestic and commercial use yet were being treated different for on-street.

EV charging

However, all this was worked through and, as of 17 January 2022, Ofgem approved DCRP/21/04 – Revision of Engineering Recommendation (EREC) G12 Issue 4 – Requirements for the Application of Protective Multiple Earthing to Low Voltage Networks[2].

This will see G12 being updated and the DNOs also formally amending their policies (with, of course, the exception of WPD as it has already done so). In short, the change means PME supplies can now be used for EV chargers – provided a device is used that detects a broken neutral fault (PEN) fault detection

It should be noted that, in practice, experienced and competent designers have been using this technology for installing on-street chargers since 2020, as they have requirements to follow BS 7671. Furthermore, the requirement to achieve underground separation between TT and PME systems has been almost impossible to achieve on-street, so designers have had little choice but to use PME supplies with PEN devices, so as not to create a new TT ‘island’.

In fact, it is estimated there are some 300-400 lighting column chargers already using PME supplies around the UK with PEN devices, with a significant increase now planned. Going down this route significantly reduces costs by eliminating the need for expensive copper earth mats, so providing an even greater value-formoney option for local councils and national government providing critical infrastructure.

In addition, as well as solving the ‘TT islands surrounded by a PME sea’ issue, it further allows the lamp to retain its 6A BS fuse. This, in turn, has the advantage of meaning there is barely any nuisance tripping of the lamp, which was not necessarily the case under the TT arrangements. Consequently, there are far fewer engineer call-outs – and so everyone is happy.

BACK-OF-FOOTWAY COLUMNS

Some say that lighting columns are unsuitable because so many are at the back of the footway. For me, however, the argument is more nuanced than that.

Firstly – and this should go without saying – it ought to be stressed that no CPO would install a charger on a lighting column situated at the back of the footway.

However, whilst it’s true many lighting columns on residential streets without offstreet parking are at the back of the footway, around 10%-20% of them are at the front of the footway.

This amounts to around 300,000 suitable columns nationwide (of the 6.5 million total), which would meet a sizeable portion of the country’s on-street residential charging needs far into the future.

Furthermore, columns at the back of the footway can still be used to feed a satellite bollard, which, in turn, can be sited at the front of the footway, so in an ideal location for charging. This remains a more cost-effective, lower-carbon and lower-street clutter solution to providing a new metered connection for a new dedicated charging pillar, and associated kit such as feeder pillar and signage post.

Finally, as columns are replaced, either individually or as part of a wider programme, local authorities can look to locate them in low-traffic, low-speed residential roads with limited off-street parking at the front of footpath to enable an efficient dual-use.

In conclusion, national and local EV charging strategies will always require a number of different solutions for the variety of charging use-cases, from delivery drivers and private hire drivers through to tourists and residents.

Rapid charging will increasingly be used by trade vehicles, such as taxis and commercial fleet vehicles, which need to charge on-the-go or drivers commuting long distances. Destination charging (for example at supermarkets) must also of course play its part, although the private sector does appear to be stepping up in this area.

That leaves residential charging, where every local authority, I’d argue, should be making the provision of affordable and convenient on-street EV charging a key part of its strategy.

It will enable and accelerate residents’ transition to EV, reduce emissions, ensure cleaner air in our towns and cities and, of course most important of all, help protect the plant from global warming.

[1] BS 7671:2018 The IET Wiring Regulations, https://electrical.theiet.org/bs-7671/ [2] Distribution Code DCRP/21/04 – Revision of Engineering Recommendation (EREC) G12 Issue 4, Ofgem, September 2020, https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/distribution-code-dcrp2104-revision-engineering-recommendation-erec-g12-issue-4 James Everly is technical director at charge-point operator ChargeLight