Decentralized Control Strategy for Participation of Electric Vehicles in Distribution Voltage Control

Abstract

With the accelerating transportation electrification, increasing numbers of electric vehicles (EVs) are connected to distribution networks via electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSs). Due to the uncertain charging behaviors of EV users, concentrated high-power EV charging during peak hours can result in significant undervoltage issues, affecting the regular operation of distribution networks and having detrimental effects on regular EV charging. Conventional EV charging scheduling methods are conducted in a centralized way, requiring extensive investment in communication infrastructure and intensive computing power. Accordingly, this paper proposes a novel decentralized voltage control scheme with the participation of EVs and EVCSs. The proposed control scheme first divides the distribution network into clusters based on a modified modularity index. Then, it applies the rolling optimization-based control of the EVs and EVCSs within each cluster to solve the regional voltage problems. The optimization window length is self-adapted based on the monitored states of the grid-connected EVs and EVCSs. Case studies show that the proposed decentralized voltage control strategy could effectively address the undervoltage violation issues and alleviate the pressure on peak shaving during peak hours, while satisfying the charging requirements of EV users.