As an electric vehicle enthusiast, I recently found an article titled “Managing Grid Impacts from Increased Electric Vehicle Adoption in African Cities”. The title itself would not sound dry in any aspect. Interesting read: how electric vehicles charge up Africa’s urban landscapes, if puns may be allowed; this study shows African cities need their own very specific game plan. Findings from Nairobi show quirks in the urban transit across cities, where “public” transport usually means informal set-ups-think of Kenya’s matatus or Nigeria’s danfos, just buzzing around cities like some army of ants.
Applying this lens to Addis Ababa-with blue-and-white minibus taxis-gives a common challenge from Nairobi and how far our friendly neighborhood transformers may suffer without some thought-through planning.
Can Your Transformer Take the Heat?
The Nairobi study assessed the grid impacts of EV adoption across private, commercial, and Para transit fleets. Key findings are Grid Overload Risk, Increased Peak Demand, and Demand for Frequent Charging in Public Transit areas.
Even at just 5% EV penetration, Nairobi’s transformers reached 125% of capacity during peak hours, mainly due to uncoordinated private EV charging. This overload underscores the need for immediate grid reinforcements to prevent costly transformer replacements and maintain stability.
Furthermore, the study showed that as EV usage grows, peak electricity demand could rise by 11% at a 30% adoption rate. Unmanaged charging only heightens the risk of outages and service disruptions, highlighting the critical need for peak-demand management strategies and off-peak charging incentives.
Nairobi’s high-mileage Para transit vehicles, like matatus, travel up to 220 km daily, requiring multiple charges that put added stress on transformers in busy transit hubs. Without dedicated charging infrastructure, grid strain will likely worsen as more transit fleets go electric, pointing to the need for strategically placed, high-capacity charging hubs.
The study’s findings raised concerns in Nairobi, where, even with limited EV adoption, transformers were already facing considerable strain. In other words, they were overworked, risking overload and possibly an identity crisis.
The timing of EV charging is just as crucial: Nairobi’s report noted that peak demand could increase as more EVs hit the streets. The combination of private EV charging and Para transit demand at peak times places the grid at high risk, underscoring the need for planned solutions that match the local transit profile.
As a solution, I would like to take some practical approaches from various sources. The first one is Get Smart with charging infrastructure. However, this does not mean hooking up your Car to a lamp or oven post or even having a separate breaker with the proper charging device. I do acknowledge the need for it for safety reasons. Getting smart with managing the gird load is vital. A good example is in this case in California.
California has been simply legendary with time-of-use pricing to discourage EV drivers from peak-hour charging, and that has shifted some 40% of EV charging into late nights and early mornings. Similar incentives could get EV drivers thinking twice before plugging in at rush hour; after all, a good bargain might bring out the best in people in Addis.
Having such a success needs technical awareness with EV owners. Most of the cars have the functionality to configure start and stop the intake. No need to wake up late at night. Additionally, Smart chargers come with a mobile app to monitor the price and notify the customer to charge. Even the apps can be configured to start and stop charging with a preconfigured price range, and usage patterns more or less autonomously.
The second approach is to Give Those Transformers a Break with Dedicated Public Transport Charging Hubs. Shenzhen in China practically invented the EV fleet hub, with rows of high-capacity stations that keep fleets of electric buses running without overheating the city’s transformers.
In Ethiopia’s case, this approach would be more appropriate for corporate users. They can build their charging infrastructure geographically closer to bigger substations to avoid the load over residential and commercial districts. Commercial districts are relatively free at night which can be an alternative. The solution for Addis might be placing hubs at transit points to prop up its blue-and-white minibus fleet, take the pressure off overloaded transformers and give the neighborhood transformers a well-deserved latte break.
The third approach is “Put Charging Where It’s Needed Most Smart charger placement” by Amsterdam city administration is genius in its simplicity. They roll out charging stations where the highest EV adoption is, targeting areas that need the infrastructure most. Addis could benefit from the same, basing new stations on where EVs are most likely to appear and reinforcing grid sections before they are strained to breaking.
To achieve this we need to have the data. The city administration needs to have details of the EV owners including their charging plans. I am not sure if such detailed data were collected or can be extracted from the vehicle register system. It is time to start now.
At last, Public Awareness is a crucial step. All concerned entities need to plan public awareness strategies for themself and must find a way to implement them collaboratively. A Little EV Education Never Hurts the Society. A good example in this case is the “Weird Stockholm electricity vehicle campaign”. The campaigns have informed citizens when and where to charge. Addis could follow suit and keep drivers informed as to when charging is cheap for peak-hour grid stress alleviation. Will Addis drivers get the advert like “If you want to save, wait for the clock to tick!”
It is important to have a Detailed Grid Study. The capital first needs a city-specific grid study to determine precisely where charging hotspots could create overloads. Building from an infrastructure map will show utilities where the grid needs reinforcement and which transformers might need backup.
After All, Power to the People Works Better Coordinated. Create an EV Team for Cooperation is a must to achieve working policy and strategy referring to the success of Norway, where the Norwegian EV Association unified efforts between the government, utilities, and private partners. Ethiopia could also lead the charge with a working group to push for policy. As Christina Bu of the EV Association in Norway once commented so aptly in her TED Talk, Norway succeeded because every player was at the table. A multidisciplinary committee such as this would be able to lead efforts toward policy formulation, technical standards, and incentives.
Smart Charging Policy and Public Transportation Charging Hubs Success stories from California to Shenzhen suggest that incentivized smart charging and dedicated high-demand hubs could take a big load off the grid. Give people cheaper off-peak rates, and they might be tempted to charge at times of day that help the grid balance its load; locate public transport hubs centrally, and the city’s minibuses can keep running without frying transformers in residential areas.
Data-Driven Infrastructure and Education The high-resolution data of charging demand give Addis an edge in the optimal deployment of charging infrastructure. If drivers know they will save by charging at specific times, they will. And, as Stockholm has proved, a little knowledge goes a long way toward trimming peak-hour demand. Data driven diction making process was the key tool for the success of Amsterdam’s Infrastructure Strategy.
The Ethiopian government’s bold decision to cut EV taxes and ban the import of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles marks a transformative moment for electric mobility in Africa. With policies that could soon make Ethiopia one of the top countries for 100% EV registration, the groundwork is set for Addis Ababa to lead in sustainable urban transport. Norway, for instance, achieved over 80% EV adoption for new car sales through similar policies and incentives, setting a clear example of the impact such decisions can have.
However, this EV shift introduces a pressing challenge: managing grid capacity. Nairobi’s experience, where only 5% EV penetration led transformers to reach up to 125% of their rated capacity, highlights the strain that EV adoption can impose on the grid. For Addis Ababa, these findings are a critical reminder that planning is essential. Reviewing Ethiopia’s roadmap for electric mobility, establishing a formal framework for collaboration, and fostering public awareness with a dash of humor will all be key to ensuring that EV adoption doesn’t transform the grid into an overloaded system.
Addis is poised to become an example of sustainable EV adoption in Africa-with the right measures, early planning, and a commitment to grid resilience, the city can lead the way in embracing electric mobility while maintaining a strong, reliable power infrastructure
BY KASSAHUN GEDLU
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2024
