An Electrical Connection

January 24, 2023

China is leading the world in accelerating the use of electric vehicles (EVs). Ahead of both Europe and the United States, nearly a quarter of all newly registered cars in China are electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles. More EVs are expected to have been sold in China in 2022 than in the rest of the world combined.  This trend is due to a diverse set of governmental and regional mandates and incentives. In its recent five-year plan, Beijing proposed to have two million EVs on the road by 2025.  This is an ambitious goal and does not come without challenges. All these new EVs need to be recharged somewhere, creating the need to accelerate the implementation of charging facilities as well as greener sources of electricity production.

The challenge

As the widespread promotion of EVs in Beijing led to an uptick in their purchase, commercial and residential property management companies began noticing that they lacked sufficient charging facilities in their buildings. This was the challenge faced by Beijing Century City Property Management Co. Ltd at their Yuanda Park location, which had charging facilities that dated back to 2001. Since then, the ownership of EVs has surged. Yuanda Park is populated by more than 600 households with a total of 400 parking spaces. The private parking spaces in the buildings only had 30 charging units and it was difficult and expensive to install additional ones, especially if new electric grid substations were required.

Mr. Bin Wang, Engineering Director and Project Manager of the “Electric Vehicle Platform” program at Beijing City Property Management Co., Ltd. spoke with WIPO GREEN about the various challenges associated with the rapid growth of demand for EV-related infrastructure in residential buildings, including capacity issues at times of peak use, electricity distribution, and safety issues at charging points.

For the Beijing City Property Management Co., finding a green tech solution to enable rapid scale-up of EV charging capacity was the obvious way forward. Mr. Wang explained that it was also necessary to act within the framework of China’s “30-60 goals” - targets set by the state to reach peak emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. The company also wanted to support residents in their choice to green their mode of travel.

The solution

As an innovative enterprise dedicated to solving challenges associated with the rapid increase of EVs, Beijing ShijiYunan New Energy Co., Ltd had the solution: a technology that conveniently, safely and economically charges EVs at home. The technology is a platform of charging piles (charging stations that convert electricity on the grid to charge EVs) that in clusters and together with the building load optimizes existing power resources. This enables the building to provide EV charging facilities without having to install additional energy capacity.

This seems like magic – so how does it work? Ms. Xiaohui Zhou, Project Manager of Electric Vehicle Platform at Beijing ShijiYunan New Energy Co., Ltd. explained: the flexible control of the power load is realized on two levels. The smart microgrid platform monitors the building’s power consumption and sends the information to the charging pile platform. This way it can monitor the available power load of the charging piles at any given time to ensure that the total power consumption is not exceeded. Secondly, it detects the electricity consumption data of the charging piles in real-time. Following the information from the microgrid platform and the consumption data of the piles, the electricity load can be adjusted optimized to need.

Partnering-up

The two companies were matched through the WIPO GREEN China Cities Acceleration Project. Launched in 2021 in cooperation with the Bluetech Clean Air Alliance (BCAA), the project partners selected Beijing as the pilot city. During the matchmaking activities organized by the WIPO Office in China, Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Office and BCAA in Beijing, the two companies were introduced. Not only do they share an interest in the scaling-up of EV charging facilities, they also have a shared vision around the national green development strategy. Mr. Wang explained that Beijing ShijiYunan New Energy Co., Ltd effectively had the solution to their main problem: how to provide residents with sufficient electricity to recharge their vehicles. The match was made and implementation began in May 2022.

An electric match!

Shortly after its launch, the project is already going strong.  Mr. Wang said that the management platform enabled them to adjust the charging power load when needed. They were also able to observe the use of charging piles, eliminating blind spots in monitoring power distribution and improving safety from the outset.

Mr. Wang was especially pleased with the improved relationship between Beijing Century City Property Management Co., Ltd and its apartment owners, who were impressed with the new technology partnership and its efficiency. Ms. Shuo An (co-founder and General Manager) and Ms. Zhou from Beijing ShijiYuan New Energy Co., Ltd were also delighted that their technology was able to provide the solution. In the longer term, they hope their technology will be widely adopted both domestically and globally.

Changing the way we do things and switching to greener ways of transport does come with some challenges that demand effective and innovative solutions. This successful match, proves that solutions are out there and available – it’s just a matter of finding the right one.

• Read the story in Chinese