A unit commitment model for optimal vehicle-to-grid operation in a power system

Integrating plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) into a smart grid can pose some challenges, particularly when a significant number of these vehicles are simultaneously charged and discharged. However, smart management of PEVs in a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) system can result in benefits to the grid such as load leveling, and cost reduction. This paper proposes a unit commitment model for a V2G system connected to a smart power grid. The model considers different penetration levels of PEVs and investigates the economic and technical effects of using PEVs to support the grid. The proposed methodology incorporates controlled charging and discharging as well as accounting for battery degradation in the unit commitment problem. The model is tested using an IEEE 24 bus network to determine the impact of high PEV penetration on generation cost. A comparison between a system without V2G and a system with V2G is presented to highlight the benefits of the proposed approach. The results show that the optimal scheduling of PEVs leads to reduction in generation cost and is effective in leveling the load profile through valley filling and peak load reduction.

Automated summary

This paper proposes a unit commitment model for a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) system, investigating the application of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) in a smart power grid. The results show that optimizing the scheduling of PEVs can reduce generation cost and have an impact on load balancing.