Coordinated, Centralized, and Simultaneous Control of Fast Charging Stations and Distributed Energy Resources

Abstract

The growing penetration of fast charging stations (FCSs) to electric vehicles (EVs) and distributed energy resources (DERs) in the electrical power system brings technical issue changes in the voltage profile throughout grid nodes and feeder current overload. The provision of ancillary services by DERs and FCSs arises as an appealing solution to reduce these adverse effects, enhancing the grid hosting capacity. The control of microgrids is essential for the coordinated implementation of these services. Although microgrid control is widely applied to DERs, few studies address the coordinated control of DERs and FCSs to obtain benefits for the electrical power system. This paper proposes a coordinated and simultaneous control of DERs and FCSs based on the power-based control (PBC) strategy, efficiently exploiting FCSs in a microgrid model previously unaddressed in the literature. The results show that, with the coordinated control of DERs and FCSs, the control of the power flow in a minigrid (MG) is achieved both in moments of high generation and in moments of high load, even with the maximum operation of DERs. This method allows for the maintenance of voltage levels within values considered acceptable by technical standards (above 0.93 pu). The maintenance of voltage levels is derived from reducing the overload on the point of common coupling (PCC) of the minigrid by 28%, performing the peak shaving ancillary service. Furthermore, the method allows for the control of zero power flow in the PCC of the minigrid with the upstream electric grid in periods of high generation, performing the ancillary service of valley filling. The method performs this control without compromising vehicle recharging and power dispatch by DERs.