Optimal pricing strategies for distribution system operator in coupled power-transportation system

Abstract

The power grid and transportation network are coupled by the charging behavior of electric vehicles. Based on the coupled power-transportation network model, this paper first analyzes the effect of the distribution system operator’s (DSO) electricity selling price on guiding the charging behavior of electric vehicles in the transportation network and then builds the DSO’s optimal pricing formulation. Considering the competition between multiple charging network operators (CNOs), this paper establishes a game model between CNOs and solves it iteratively through the best response dynamic method. An approximation method using the elasticity matrix is proposed to speed up the solution by reducing the multi-layer optimization to a single layer one in each iteration, with its effectiveness validated through numerical tests. Furthermore, the paper discusses the issue of the prisoner’s dilemma that arises among CNOs and explores the potential impact of their cooperative strategies on the overall system.