SwitchDin partners with Viva Energy to accelerate Ultrafast EV charging rollout
Overview
Viva Energy is expanding ultrafast EV charging across its Australian service station network. At many sites, the power needed to charge several vehicles at once can exceed what an existing grid connection can supply. Waiting for a capacity upgrade could delay new charging services and add substantially to the cost of rollout.
Viva Energy partnered with SwitchDin to coordinate on-site solar, battery storage and EV chargers within each site’s operating limits. Following a pilot, the approach supported its first production deployment in New South Wales. It offers a way to bring high-power charging to suitable sites while protecting the reliability of both the chargers and the retail operations around them.
Challenges faced by Viva Energy
Ultrafast charging needs more electricity than the grid can normally supply
Viva Energy wanted to offer up to 600 kW of EV charging power at sites where the existing grid connection could be less than 100 kVA. An upgrade to the site’s grid connection could take up to two years, if additional capacity was available at all. Viva Energy needed another way to meet charging demand and progress its rollout.
The plan was to make the most of the energy assets installed behind the meter, with site configurations including up to 110 kVA of solar PV and 900 kWh of battery storage. Coordinating these assets with the EV chargers was essential to delivering high-power charging within grid limits. Viva Energy also needed the assets to perform efficiently so the investment made commercial sense.
Customer experience was equally important. Introducing high-power charging could not compromise the continuity of either EV charging or the service station’s retail amenities. Viva Energy needed to manage demand across the whole site, protect a reliable experience for customers and support its goal of improving customer satisfaction and Net Promoter Score.
SwitchDin’s Solution
Viva Energy selected SwitchDin’s DER Manager to coordinate the energy assets at each site. The DER Manager combines cloud-based orchestration with local edge control, bringing together battery energy storage systems, solar PV inverters and EV charging equipment. It monitors and manages how these assets operate together as charging demand and site conditions change.
This combination gives Viva Energy the flexibility to adjust energy flows in real time while maintaining local control if cloud communications are interrupted. It is designed to support high-performance charging, resilient site operation and the ability to adapt as equipment and operating requirements change.
Viva Energy began with a single pilot site, where it tested SwitchDin’s solution across a range of demanding operating scenarios. Following those tests, it proceeded with its first production site in New South Wales.
SwitchDin Solution: Layered architecture diagram showing cloud orchestration and local control across connected energy assets.
Key Features & Benefits
Ultrafast Power, Zero Grid Strain: At each site, SwitchDin’s DER Manager harnesses the battery energy storage system’s capacity to deliver instantaneous EV charging power of up to 600kW, through ultrafast EV supply equipment. This setup can charge multiple EVs from 10% to 80% in under 20 minutes, with no additional burden on the grid.
Grid-Safe, Site-Safe Operation: DER Manager’s intelligent edge control ensures safe, robust site operation by dynamically managing energy flows and responding to risks in real time. Redundant systems at both cloud and edge, ensure reliability and availability of ultrafast speeds, with edge control maintaining stability when cloud communications are lost.
Vendor-agnostic asset optimisation: The freedom to choose whatever battery storage system and EV supply equipment vendors, let Viva Energy select the equipment that aligned best with their performance and budget needs. It also meant they had the flexibility to switch vendors in the future as more competitive options emerge.
Outcome
Accelerated rollout and improved time-to-revenue: With SwitchDin, Viva Energy avoided the need for major grid upgrades to support further roll out of its ultrafast EV charging stations across its network. It enables a different approach to the grid constraint challenges often experienced, providing a win: win solution for both the Distribution Network Service Providers (DNSPs) and Viva Energy.
Optimised energy usage and cost savings: By integrating the solar panels, battery storage, and EV supply equipment load management, Viva Energy will reduce its operational costs. The value of SwitchDin’s adaptable, dynamic system is that it continuously optimises energy flows in real-time to meet both site and grid constraints. It responds to periods of high network tariffs and high energy demand.
Future-proof platform to reduce cost-to-serve: The DER Manager enables Viva Energy to unlock additional value from its energy assets into the future. It does so through wholesale arbitrage of the energy market participation via AEMO’s Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) and Machine Learning for load forecasting.
Conclusion
SwitchDin’s partnership with Viva Energy enables further rollout of its ultrafast EV charging network that would otherwise be impossible with today’s grid. It establishes Viva Energy as a market leader. With SwitchDin’s DER Manager, Viva Energy, avoided infrastructure upgrade costs, and cut operational costs.
