Optimal management strategy for a shared EVs aggregator participating in electricity and frequency regulation reserves markets

Abstract

The use of shared electric vehicles has spread widely in response to the global need of reducing CO2 emissions. Hence, in the literature, authors have proposed strategies to minimize the operative costs of shared EVs, such as the provision of electrical ancillary services. However, to provide these kinds of services jointly with transportation, charging/discharging and fleet management strategies are required. And, the currently available strategies from the literature do not consider shared EVs. Therefore, to fill this gap, this paper presents an optimization-based management strategy for shared EVs that provide ancillary services and sell energy, which is applied to a study case located in Colombia. Additionally, it includes the analysis of the economic contracts that should be established between the EVs operator and the energy retailer; in which, it was found that the best option for EVs operator is to purchase the energy at the stock electricity price and establish a bilateral contract for energy sales. Moreover, it suggests that EVs be charged at the early morning hours when the stock price is lowest, that the ancillary services be provided at hours with the highest stock price, and that the energy be sold at the hours in which the provision of ancillary services is not suitable. Finally, the paper suggests, from the application of a Lagrangian parametric technique, an incentive of at least $ 115 [COP/kWh], to make the electrical services competitive with the car-sharing transportation service, which is paid at a price 23 times higher, within the Colombian context.