An economic evaluation of electric vehicles balancing grid load fluctuation, new perspective on electrochemical energy storage alternative

Abstract

Using vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology to balance power load fluctuations is gaining attention from governments and commercial enterprises. We address a valuable research gap from a new perspective by examining whether electrochemical energy storage can completely replace V2G technology in terms of balancing grid load fluctuations. Specifically, we evaluate the benefits of power grid from the perspective of electrochemical energy storage replacement and explore the practical application potential to determine whether V2G technology can benefit both power grids and electric vehicles (EVs). The research results are mixed. The positive results are as follows: a) Power grid companies and EVs can achieve a win-win strategy, and V2G technology can transfer 2.7 % to 4.3 % of charging load from peak to off-peak periods at a city level; b) Based on simulations, the transferable electricity through V2G increases from 50 MWh in 2019 to 330 MWh each day in Beijing. The negative results are as follows: a) The transferred electricity achieved through V2G is extremely small compared with the EV charging load, and this low ratio cannot be improved effectively over time; b) A more flexible charging price or lower cost for power batteries and electrochemical storage cannot significantly help improve the relatively limited transferable load. The results show that the daily transferable electricity is stable at 330MWh.