UK refiners push back over 2030 ban on new fossil fuel cars
Infrastructure
The UK's downstream oil sector includes six refineries, accounting for 12% of European refining capacity, 60 coastal terminals and more than 8,000 filling stations, together employing 124,000 people, with 300,000 supported jobs. As with refineries elsewhere recently, collapsing demand has led Petroineos to propose capacity reductions at its Grangemouth refinery in Scotland. Meanwhile charging infrastructure has undergone significant expansion.
*National Grid forecasts that with a 100% EV car fleet, electricity demand would only climb 10%, well within the range of manageable load fluctuation. Home charging potentially clashes with evening peak demand, but smart charging should see this shift to offpeak periods, and EVs could potentially act as virtual power stores to smooth system volatility.
*The UK electric vehicle market is growing rapidly from a low base, with 390,000 plug-in cars, including hybrids, registered as of September, of which 173,000 were pure battery EVs. Plug-in car sales accounted for 9% of new car sales in the first 10 months of 2020.
*National Grid forecasts EV numbers could reach 10 million by 2030, but its estimates range widely, with a lower forecast of just 2.7 million.
*The UK has 35,300 public EV charging connectors, of which nearly 9,000 are defined as rapid (25-99 kW). A 50 kW charge takes about an hour. Ultra-fast charging at 120-350 kW takes 5-10 minutes. The UK has 1,200 ultra-rapid connectors.
Trade flows
*In 2013 the UK flipped to being a net fuel importer, reflecting declines in North Sea oil and refinery shutdowns, with 2019 net imports amounting to 12.6 million mt.
*Liquid fuel import dependence contributes more than GBP3 billion annually in negative trade flows, according to the UK Petroleum Industry Association.
Sources: S&P Global Platts Analytics, UK BEIS, Ofgem, National Grid, SMMT, UKPIA, Zap Map, greencharging.co.uk