Impact of Electric Vehicle Integration on District Energy Systems

Abstract

Considering the increasing usage of electric vehicles, the possibility of utilising their combined energy storage within power grids to increase flexibility and reduce emissions is becoming a promising area of research. This is analysed with simulations of district energy systems with and without vehicle to grid integration. Mobility data is created with a chain of three tools witch is integrated with a Load Profile Generator. This enables the creation of synthetic, high-resolution load profiles that accurately reflect home occupancy. These methods are integrated into a linear optimisation framework. The holistic energy systems optimisation is done with the tool MTRESS (Model Template for Renewable Energy Supply Systems). A scenario-aware method was utilised to plan energy systems, considering uncertainties associated with varying demand profiles. We primarily investigate the effect of integrating bidirectional charging into district energy systems, showing that this has the ability to reduce total costs and increase the self sufficiency of the buildings in the system. The electric vehicle battery charging and discharging behaviour is seen to be closely associated with the electricity prices. This district level simulation with integrated energy, heat and mobility energy flows is a stepping stone towards a comprehensive energy model for urban districts.