Set point control for charging of electric vehicles on the distribution network

Many countries envisage a future where renewable electricity will be the predominant energy source. For example, Ireland’s smart grid roadmap has targets of 40% of electricity from renewables by 2020 and 80% by 2050. To achieve these targets will require new ways of operating the grid. We propose that there will be two types of demand, a load which can be influenced by dynamic pricing and a more tightly controlled flexible load that can be used to shape the aggregate demand. Key examples of this flexible load are electric vehicles (EVs), electric storage heating and hot water heating. This paper explores two algorithms that implement tight set point control for a set of EVs on a distribution feeder line. The first algorithm uses a variable power charger for charging the EVs and the second algorithm shows that it is possible to achieve similar results with a much simpler on-off charger.