Congestion-balanced and Welfare-enabled Charging Strategies for Electric Vehicles

With the increase of the number of electric vehicles (EVs), it is of vital importance to develop the efficient and effective charging scheduling schemes for all the EVs. In this paper, we aim to maximize the social welfare of all the EVs, charging stations (CSs) and power plant (PP), by taking into account the changing demand of each EV, the changing price, the capacity and the congestion balance between different CSs. To this end, two efficient scheduling algorithms, i.e., Centralized Charging Strategy (CCS) and Distributed Charging Strategy (DCS) are proposed. CCS has a slightly better performance than the DCS, as it takes all the information and make the decision in the central control unit. On the other hand, DCS dose not require the private information from EVs and can make decentralized decision. Extensive simulation are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms, in terms of the performance, congestion balance and computing complexity

Is Congestion Pricing Effective for Traffic Jams?

The complexity of urban congestion requires policy-makers to adopt different congestion control measures that suit the characteristics of the city at the proper time. The paper focuses on the most controversial congestion pricing and offers methods to judge the efficacy of the policy by game theoretic approaches. It is found that congestion pricing is not merely a Pigouvian tax that internalizes drivers’ externalities, but also a powerful means to enhance public traffic proportion and balance road utilization on the premise of maximized social util-ity. Meanwhile, the embedded multiple case study shows that theoretical correctness of the policy is a necessary, but not sufficient condition for its effectiveness because the valid operation of the policy further requires cities to hold certain attributes in some aspects, such as econom-ic level, population density, proper pricing mechanism, and the ability to limit access to and from certain areas. Moreover, the authority should pay attention to matching the policy goal and its functions for successful implementation

Transforming Energy Networks via Peer to Peer Energy Trading: Potential of Game Theoretic Approaches

Peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading has emerged as a next-generation energy management mechanism for the smart grid that enables each prosumer of the network to participate in energy trading with one another and the grid. This poses a significant challenge in terms of modeling the decision-making process of each participant with conflicting interest and motivating prosumers to participate in energy trading and to cooperate, if necessary, for achieving different energy management goals. Therefore, such decision-making process needs to be built on solid mathematical and signal processing tools that can ensure an efficient operation of the smart grid. This paper provides an overview of the use of game theoretic approaches for P2P energy trading as a feasible and effective means of energy management. As such, we discuss various games and auction theoretic approaches by following a systematic classification to provide information on the importance of game theory for smart energy research. Then, the paper focuses on the P2P energy trading describing its key features and giving an introduction to an existing P2P testbed. Further, the paper zooms into the detail of some specific game and auction theoretic models that have recently been used in P2P energy trading and discusses some important finding of these schemes.Comment: 38 pages, single column, double spac

Dynamic Pricing Problems Arising in the Adoption of Renewable Energy

There are two problems at the interface of electrical power and economics that are examined in this thesis. The first problem addresses the issue of optimally operating electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, where price as well as scheduling of purchasing, storing, and charging play key roles. The second problem addresses the challenge faced by electric power system operators who have to balance power generation and demand at all times, and are faced with the task of maximizing the social welfare of all affected entities comprised of producers, consumers and prosumers (e.g., homes with solar panels who may be producers at some times and consumers at other times). For the first problem, we have developed a layered decomposition approach that permits a holistic solution to solving the scheduling, storage and pricing problems of charging stations. The key idea is to decompose problems by time-scale. For the second problem, we have shown that for the special case of LQG agents, by careful construction of a sequence of layered VCG payments over time, the intertemporal effect of current bids on future payoffs can be decoupled, and truth-telling of dynamic states is guaranteed if system parameters are known and agents are rational. We have also shown that a modification of the VCG payments, called scaled-VCG payments, achieves Budget Balance and Individual Rationality for a range of scaling, under a certain identified Market Power Balance condition

Elbilpolitikk fra et samfunnsøkonomisk perspektiv

This thesis focuses on the economics and polices for the electrification of transport. Over the last few years we have observed a rapid rise in the number of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in Norway. This growth is the combined result of rapid technological change and a targeted national climate policy. The rising share of BEVs relative to the share of conventional vehicles could lead to socio-economic benefits such as reduced greenhouse gas emissions and local pollution, but it could also pose new challenges such as pressure on the capacity of the electricity distribution network. In addition, BEVs have similar negative externalities as fossil-fueled vehicles with regards to congestion, road wear and accidents. BEVs can mitigate some market failures and exacerbate others, creating a messy optimization problem for the social planner. This illustrates the need for new knowledge on mechanisms and welfare enhancing policies in the transport and electricity markets as they become more integrated. This thesis seeks to contribute to the body of knowledge on the subject, in the following introductory chapter and four independent chapters. The latter chapters are written as scientific papers that are either published or in the process of getting published in peer-reviewed journals.Denne avhandlingen tar for seg elbilpolitikk i et samfunnsøkonomisk perspektiv. De siste årene har vi opplevd en rask økning i antall elbiler i Norge. Denne veksten er et resultat av både rask teknologisk utvikling og en målrettet nasjonal klimapolitikk. Den økende andelen av elbiler i forhold til andelen konvensjonelle biler kan føre til samfunnsøkonomiske fordeler som reduserte klimagassutslipp og lokal forurensning, men det kan også gi nye utfordringer som press på kapasiteten til strømdistribusjonsnettet. I tillegg har elbiler tilsvarende eksterne kostnader som konvensjonelle biler med tanke på kø, veislitasje og ulykker. Elbiler kan dempe noen markedssvikt og forverre andre, og skape et rotete optimaliseringsproblem for samfunnsplanleggeren. Dette understreker behovet for ny kunnskap om den gjensidige påvirkningen mellom transport- og elektrisitetsmarkedet, og hva som kan være samfunnsmessig effektiv politikk. Denne avhandlingen bidrar til kunnskapen om emnet, i det følgende kappen og fire uavhengige kapitler. De siste kapitlene er skrevet som vitenskapelige artikler som enten er publisert eller i ferd med å bli publisert i fagfellevurderte tidsskrifter

Can electric vehicle charging be carbon neutral? Uniting smart charging and renewables

Growing numbers of plug-in electric vehicles in Europe will have an increasing impact on the electricity system. Using the agent-based simulation model PowerACE for ten electricity markets in Central Europe, we analyze how different charging strategies impact price levels and production- as well as consumption-based carbon emissions in France and Germany. The applied smart charging strategies consider spot market prices and/or real-time production from renewable energy sources. While total European carbon emissions do not change significantly in response to the charging strategy due to the comparatively small energy consumption of the electric vehicle fleet, our results show that all smart charging strategies reduce price levels on the spot market and lower total curtailment of renewables. Here, charging processes optimized according to hourly prices have the strongest effect. Furthermore, smart charging strategies reduce electricity purchasing costs for aggregators by about 10% compared to uncontrolled charging. In addition, the strategies allow aggregators to communicate near-zero allocated emissions for charging vehicles. An aggregator’s charging strategy expanding classic electricity cost minimization by limiting total national PEV demand to 10% of available electricity production from renewable energy sources leads to the most favorable results in both metrics, purchasing costs and allocated emissions. Finally, aggregators and plug-in electric vehicle owners would benefit from the availability of national, real-time Guarantees of Origin and the respective scarcity signals for renewable production