Optimal Sizing of Energy Storage System to Reduce Impacts of Transportation Electrification on Power Distribution Transformers Integrated With Photovoltaic

Transportation systems are one of the leading sectors that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions that lead to enhance global warming. The electrification of vehicles is a promising solution to this widespread problem; however, integrating electric vehicles (EVs) into existing grid systems on a large scale creates several problems, both for consumers and for utilities. Accelerated aging of expensive grid assets, such as power transformers, is one of the primary issues that these utilities are facing. This problem can be addressed with battery energy storage systems (BESS), which acts as buffer between demand and supply. Accordingly, this paper proposes a novel strategy for optimal sizing of BESS based on thermal loading of transformers. This paper also investigates issues associated with high penetration levels of rooftop photovoltaics (PVs), determining the synergy between EV charging load and BESS. The proposed solution is treated as an optimization problem, in which a new time of use (ToU) tariff is utilized as a demand response signal to reduce the accelerated aging of transformers. Extensive simulation results show that the size of BESS can be considerably reduced based on the proposed methodology, thereby avoiding accelerated aging of transformers without the need to augment existing grids.

Automated summary

This paper discusses the contribution of transportation systems to greenhouse gas emissions and the impact of electric vehicles on the grid system. A new strategy for addressing transformer aging issues with battery energy storage systems (BESS) is proposed, and BESS capacity optimization is achieved through time of use (ToU) tariffs.