Performance of heuristic optimization in coordination of plug-in electric vehicles charging

Abstract

A heuristic load management (H-LMA) algorithm is presented for coordination of Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEVs) in distribution networks to minimize system losses and regulate bus voltages. The impacts of optimization period T (varied from 15 minutes to 24 hours) and optimization time interval (varied 15 minutes to one hour) on the performance, accuracy and speed of the H-LMA is investigated through detailed simulations considering enormous scenarios. PEV coordination is performed by considering substation transformer loading while taking PEV owner priorities into consideration. Starting with the highest priority consumers, HLMA will use time intervals to distribute PEV charging within three designated high, medium and low priority time zones to minimize total system losses over period T while maintaining network operation criteria such as power generation and bus voltages within their permissible limits. Simulation results generated in MATLAB are presented for a 449 node distribution network populated with PEVs in residential feeders.