Development of an efficient vehicle-to-grid method for massive electric vehicle aggregation

Abstract

The growing adoption of renewable energy and electric vehicles (EVs) has contributed to environmental sustainability; nevertheless, integration of these products into the power grid has become complex owing to their unpredictable nature and variable energy demands. A significant challenge lies in the realization of large-scale, coordinated control of EVs to serve as an alternative to traditional energy storage systems. This challenge is underscored by the complexity of optimization in large-scale cooperative control problems and the difficulty in reducing such problems to an easily manageable and practical level in real-world application. In response to these challenges, a practical mechanism for the integration of EVs into a vehicle-to-grid concept is proposed in this study. In this approach, the constraints involved in merging multiple EVs into a fictitious clustered energy storage unit, which are often neglected, are given renewed focus. An iterative multi-stage optimization method is introduced that includes an EV aggregation clustering model, multi-tier optimization model, and recursive framework. Here, marked efficacy for larger EV fleets is demonstrated for this method, providing optimal charging and discharging schedules for each vehicle while a high degree of precision is maintained. With the proposed technique, validated through numerous case studies using historical data, the global optimum solution is largely approximated, with a marginal deviation of 4 %. In addition, robustness of the model is demonstrated under varying pricing scenarios, with a computation time that increases in a linear manner, rather than exponentially, as the number of EVs increases. Meanwhile, compared with conventional methods, the technique proposed in this study has the capacity to fulfill the charging demands of all users with reduced charging expense, demonstrating the high precision and efficacy of the technique.