Grid impacts of highway electric vehicle charging and role for mitigation via energy storage

Andrew M. Mowry and Dharik S. Mallapragada

Energy Policy, 2021, vol. 157, issue C

Abstract: Highway fast-charging (HFC) stations for electric vehicles (EVs) are necessary to address range anxiety concerns and thus to support economy-wide decarbonization goals. The characteristics of HFC electricity demand – its relative inflexibility, high power requirements, and spatial concentration – have the potential to adversely impact grid operations as HFC infrastructure expands. Here, we investigate the impacts of scaled-up HFC infrastructure using an operations model of the 2033 Texas power grid with uniquely high spatial and temporal resolution. In the reference EV penetration case corresponding to 3 million passenger EVs on the road, we find that grid-HFC interactions increase system annual operational costs by 8%, or nearly $2 per MWh of load served. Greater impacts are observed for higher EV penetration cases. The high spatial resolution of the analysis reveals that the majority of increased costs can be attributed to transmission congestion on feeder lines serving a minority of HFC stations. Four-hour battery energy storage is shown to be more effective than demand flexibility as mitigation, due to the long duration of peak charging demand anticipated at HFC stations. Transmission network upgrades can also effectively mitigate grid-HFC interactions. Choosing the most effective mitigation strategy for each station requires a tailored approach.

Keywords: Electric vehicle charging; Production cost modeling; Congestion management; Energy storage; Demand flexibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:enepol:v:157:y:2021:i:c:s0301421521003785

DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112508

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