What is charging and load management?
As the number of electric cars increases, some fear that the electricity grid will be overloaded. To counteract this, charging stations are equipped with a backend for charging and load management. This ensures optimal utilisation of charging stations and prevents grid overloads.
Dynamic and static load management
A distinction is made between dynamic and static load management. Dynamic load management regulates how much electricity is available to the charging connections overall, so that no load peaks or overvoltages occur.
If the charging park puts too much strain on the grid, the load management function intervenes and reduces the power consumption. Nevertheless, a minimum supply is maintained for the charging stations, so that charging can continue reliably. This prevents load fluctuations.
The available power is strategically allocated to the different consumption points. Priority can be given to certain consumption points, such as production facilities over charging stations. This prevents grid overloads and guarantees the supply of critical systems, e.g. production facilities needed for daily operations.
Static load management coordinates the individual charging points and uses intelligent communication between the chargers to distribute the available current evenly among them. Here, too, preference can be given to certain charging stations . If a Wallbox reports that a car is almost charged and a second vehicle is connected, the power can be allocated to the car that has been charged the least.
Charging management
Where load management ensures correct distribution of the electricity load, charging management guarantees equally distributed usage of the individual charging stations. This is particularly important for charging that has many charging options, such as in company car parks.
The goal of charging management is to achieve uniform assignment to all eParking spaces, because it is unlikely that all the cars will be charging at the same time or at the same charging station. Charging management also makes it possible to assign pricing or access to individual parking spaces. For example, parking spaces reserved for guests can be charged at a special rate.
Through charging and load management, the available connection capacity can be used in the best possible way. Costs for electricity consumption and for extensions to the grid connection can also be optimised.
