Safe Grid Operation of the Low-Voltage Level by Optimizing the Charging Processes of Electric Vehicles

In the next few years, an increasing number of private charging processes of battery-electric- and plug-in hybrid vehicles is expected. The charging processes are additional loads. These volatile loads cause an alteration in the load profiles. In particular, this confronts distribution system operators with new challenges. As the loads increase, the utilization of operating resources increases. In order to ensure a reliable grid operation, the loads must not exceed certain limit values. If a reliable grid operation is no longer guaranteed due to an increased load in the low-voltage level, the low-voltage grid is normally adapted by reinforcing the grid. Since the charging processes described are volatile loads, grid reinforcements or grid expansion can perhaps be avoided. This, however, requires intelligence in the low-voltage grid. In the concrete case this means the integration of measuring equipment and the possibility of controlling charging processes in the form of load shifting as a result of load limitation. This paper describes a Grid Load Management Simulator (GLMS) that can be used to investigate the theoretical utilization of the low-voltage grid during the integration of private charging processes. Furthermore, the simulator offers different optimization variants for controlling charging processes, which consequently ensure safe grid operation.