Electrification is no longer an option, it’s an essential

• a day ago (2026-04-07)
• Junior Isles

Distributed energy 11 Electric vehicles EVs 5

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Andy Rees, Director of Power, Flexibility & Optimisation, VEV

The ongoing crisis in the Persian Gulf has become a stark reminder of how deeply exposed Britain remains to the volatility of global fossil‑fuel markets. With the Strait of Hormuz disrupted, and gas and oil prices climbing across Europe, the UK is once again facing the consequences of energy insecurity driven by geopolitical turmoil. The volatility created feeds straight into electricity and gas contracts, household bills, industrial costs and ultimately the wider economy.

Just like the 2022 gas crisis, the urgency for Britain to electrify and utilise homegrown energy enters the public consciousness. As an industry we must seize the challenge and not delay further. Instead of asking whether ageing generation assets and an overstretched network can “cope” with the strain of electrification , the more urgent question is whether Britain can afford not to electrify.

Electrification needs to be smarter – we must make our projects enablers to the grid. Demand does not rise uniformly across the year; it concentrates in particular hours and locations. Annual terawatt‑hour figures can look comfortable while the network becomes acutely stressed during a few hundred hours of extreme peak demand. There isn’t a problem with electrification itself; rather poor power management, which is where control of demand-side assets like EV fleets can play a major role.

EV fleets as a controllable energy load

Commercial fleets are often portrayed as one of the biggest future burdens on the electricity system. In reality, they are among the easiest electrification challenges to manage. Unlike private motorists or other energy consumers, fleets are predictable. Routes, dwell times and charging windows are known. Demand is concentrated, which makes electrification easier to manage efficiently.

Most fleet EVs have dwell times exceeding eight hours, leaving ample time to charge if infrastructure is available where they park, and charging can be scheduled and shifted without impacting operations. Coordinating when EVs draw power improves overall system efficiency and reduces the need for network operators to invest in the delivery of short-term peak demand.

Fleets can provide the kind of real‑time, distributed flexibility that operators have long been seeking from demand‑side response (DSR) programmes. Rather than being an encumbrance, commercial fleets are rapidly becoming one of the most valuable tools for balancing an increasingly renewable grid. Programmes like the capacity market, demand flexibility service, and local DNO flex, are a good start and I would encourage network operators to double-down and ask for greater commitments from fleets in return for more substantial rewards. This will build confidence in the ability of operators to enable the grid, reducing reliance on conventional fossil-based assets. EV fleets will become even more valuable when they are coordinated nationally and can offer export (V2G) as well as import moderation.

The role of shared infrastructure

We see commercial EV charging depots as a critical part of the solution. Shared infrastructure in the form of owned depots – bus garages, logistics yards and municipal yards could benefit hundreds of vehicles while not in use.

Experience has highlighted the opportunity for early adopters to share under‑used capacity with neighbouring fleets, not only shortening payback periods on their infrastructure but providing access to robust charging facilities for those not yet ready to commit capital. Importantly, because the primary user controls scheduling, charging can be coordinated to avoid peaks, take advantage of surplus renewable generation on the grid and utilise on‑site renewables. This is not about turning depots into public service stations; it’s about good management and oversight making better use of assets that already exist.

Right‑sizing is the key

A surprising source of inefficiency today is the tendency to overspecify connections. Many operators assume they will need a high‑powered charger for every vehicle and that all vehicles will charge simultaneously. In practice, staggered charging, a mix of higher and lower‑power chargers and shared use allow depots to serve many more vehicles with much less capacity. Our work has shown that by modelling routes, duty cycles and battery sizes, a 20‑vehicle depot may require only a fraction of the headline power and ongoing fixed costs that a charger‑per‑vehicle approach suggests. Getting this right matters for grid planners as well as fleets: if network operators think every depot needs a megawatt per vehicle, reinforcement plans (and costs) will balloon unnecessarily. Closer collaboration between network and fleet operators can ensure that each connection request is based on real operating data, not worst‑case assumptions.

Moving from theory to practice

Critics of electrification are right to highlight real constraints. Our distribution networks were not designed for mass electrification and connection queues remain long. But blaming electrification itself misses the operational reality, with fleets offering controllable, predictable loads, and perhaps even export in the future.

Securing capacity is extremely challenging, particularly in rural or heavily industrial areas where headroom is scarce. Network charging and government levies on power can be opaque, making it difficult for businesses to assess ongoing costs, undermining investment decisions. Government and regulators have acknowledged these problems, yet businesses still face huge uncertainties.

Two practical steps would make a huge difference:

1. better rewarding flexible loads for the contribution they are making (or could make) to support the power grid, and making contractual and price signals clearer and stronger;
2. much clearer long-term (> 1yr) forecasts on network charges and government levies to allow fleets to plan their electrification with confidence before committing capital.

Energy professionals – from grid operators and system planners to power generators and investors – should view fleet electrification as part of the solution to Britain’s capacity crunch and a necessary step to protect us from global energy market instability.

Let us choose to act now, because done better , electrification is the fastest route to a resilient, low‑carbon energy system.