Wind Generation and Electric Vehicles coordination in Microgrids for Peak Shaving purposes

Abstract

Nowadays, the urgent need to reduce emissions has led to the development of Renewable Energy Sources (RES). Wind energy via Wind Generators is a very common RES, which, however, is characterized by great intermittency. Consequently, wind energy production may vary from zero to excessive (way above the load demand), which makes wind power plants’ penetration very difficult, making the need for energy storage essential. On the other hand, Electric Vehicles (EVs) offer a new, eco-friendly and more effective means of transportation. The energy stored in their batteries is used to move the EVs. Nevertheless, the penetration of EVs will increase the energy demand from Thermal Plants, and will therefore harm the environment unless it is combined with an increased RES integration. The advantages of combined use of RES and EVs are evident. EVs can augment Wind Power Plants penetration through their storage capabilities and use some of their excessive wind energy output for environmental-friendly mobility. In this paper, the combination of EVs, RES (Wind Generators) and Thermal Plants of an island is examined as an alternative for the future grids. Two scenarios are being studied with focus on peak shaving. Taking into account the Medium Voltage (MV) line load demand, wind power and thermal units output hourly data in a yearly basis, a special algorithm is developed so as to study the case of absorbing the excess energy via off peak charging and reintroducing it into the Microgrid scheme in peak demand periods. The studies are conducted for two cases: a) low penetration and b) high penetration of EVs. All findings are thoroughly discussed in conclusions section.