A comprehensive study of key Electric Vehicle (EV) components, technologies, challenges, impacts, and future direction of development

Abstract: Electric vehicles (EV), including Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV), Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV), Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV), are becoming more commonplace in the transportation sector in recent times. As the present trend suggests, this mode of transport is likely to replace internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in the near future. Each of the main EV components has a number of technologies that are currently in use or can become prominent in the future. EVs can cause significant impacts on the environment, power system, and other related sectors. The present power system could face huge instabilities with enough EV penetration, but with proper management and coordination, EVs can be turned into a major contributor to the successful implementation of the smart grid concept. There are possibilities of immense environmental benefits as well, as the EVs can extensively reduce the greenhouse gas emissions produced by the transportation sector. However, there are some major obstacles for EVs to overcome before totally replacing ICE vehicles. This paper is focused on reviewing all the useful data available on EV configurations, battery energy sources, electrical machines, charging techniques, optimization techniques, impacts, trends, and possible directions of future developments. Its objective is to provide an overall picture of the current EV technology and ways of future development to assist in future researches in this sector

Centralised and decentralised control of active distribution systems: models, algorithms and applications.

Power system were traditionally planned and designed by assuming unidirectional power flows from power stations to loads. Nowadays, several factors (e.g., liberalization of the electricity market, need of increased reliability, and environmental issues) lead to a situation where electricity is produced also downstream the transmission level. Connecting generators to the distribution networks could provide several benefits to the whole system, but also technical and safety problems that must be faced. On the other hand, the loads are changing: new loads like electric vehicles and electric pumps are appearing in the network and they are going to modify the electricity consumption; while traditional loads are designed in order to be more efficient, but with additional functions or special features that require more energy. For all these reasons, since 2005, the interest on Smart Grid (electricity network that can intelligently integrate the actions of all users connected to it – generators, consumers – in order to efficiently deliver sustainable, economic and secure electricity supplies) increased. In this framework different techniques to control, operate and thereby integrate distributed energy resources into the network have been analysed and developed. The first technique designed is a centralised control, characterised by a central controller (Distribution Management System) that gathers information like the measures of the main electric parameters, energy price and indicates to DERs (Active Loads, Generators, Energy Storage) the optimal set points minimizing the system cost, subject to technical and economical constraints. The second technique developed is a decentralised control using Multi Agent Systems (MAS). This type of control has been designed and developed for the direct control of active demand and plug-in electric vehicles, managed by the Aggregator, entrusted by the end users to change their consumption habits according to their needs. Moreover, the proposed decentralised MAS, with the active participation of small consumers in the electricity system, support the integration of the Electric Vehicles in the LV distribution network and reduce its harmful impact on voltage regulation. The techniques and the algorithms proposed by the author are analysed and applied in representative Italian Distribution networks, by taking into account the development of the distribution system according to the load profile evolution, providing several examples to underline the importance of the Active Management for deferring the reinforcement of the existing grid infrastructures, increasing the hosting capacity of the networ

Modeling and Communicating Flexibility in Smart Grids Using Artificial Neural Networks as Surrogate Models

Increasing shares of renewable energies and the transition towards electric vehicles pose major challenges to the energy system. In order to tackle these in an economically sensible way, the flexibility of distributed energy resources (DERs), such as battery energy storage systems, combined heat and power plants, and heat pumps, needs to be exploited. Modeling and communicating this flexibility is a fundamental step when trying to achieve control over DERs. The literature proposes and makes use of many different approaches, not only for the exploitation itself, but also in terms of models. In the first step, this thesis presents an extensive literature review and a general framework for classifying exploitation approaches and the communicated models. Often, the employed models only apply to specific types of DERs, or the models are so abstract that they neglect constraints and only roughly outline the true flexibility. Surrogate models, which are learned from data, can pose as generic DER models and may potentially be trained in a fully automated process. In this thesis, the idea of encoding the flexibility of DERs into ANNs is systematically investigated. Based on the presented framework, a set of ANN-based surrogate modeling approaches is derived and outlined, of which some are only applicable for specific use cases. In order to establish a baseline for the approximation quality, one of the most versatile identified approaches is evaluated in order to assess how well a set of reference models is approximated. If this versatile model is able to capture the flexibility well, a more specific model can be expected to do so even better. The results show that simple DERs are very closely approximated, and for more complex DERs and combinations of multiple DERs, a high approximation quality can be achieved by introducing buffers. Additionally, the investigated approach has been tested in scheduling tasks for multiple different DERs, showing that it is indeed possible to use ANN-based surrogates for the flexibility of DERs to derive load schedules. Finally, the computational complexity of utilizing the different approaches for controlling DERs is compared

A Critical Investigation into Whole System Transitions to Low Carbon Futures and New Sources of Energy Flexibility in Great Britain's Electricity Sector

Great Britain’s (GB) electricity sector is transitioning to low carbon futures in response to various pressures including legally binding carbon emission targets while ensuring security of supply. Such transitions are likely to focus on a mix of inflexible low carbon generation and new sources of energy flexibility, e.g. demand side flexibility, storage and/or interconnection. Existing studies recognise that transitions are uncertain with actors across the whole sector playing a role. However, they suggest tidy and clearly delineated futures and fail to fully capture the messiness emerging from actor interactions. Drawing on transitions research concepts including the Multi-level Perspective, whole system analysis, architectural innovation, power and discourses, this study critically investigates whole system transitions to low carbon futures and new sources of energy flexibility in GB’s electricity sector. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with 28 senior figures across the sector and analysed using thematic coding and discourse analysis. This study shows that five futures are articulated representing five discourse coalitions (1) ‘Market-based’, (2) ‘Network-focussed’, (3) ‘Policy-driven’, (4) ‘Consumer-centric’; and (5) ‘Prosumer-led’. These futures are messy because actors hold a plurality of views and cannot be simply marshalled into discourse coalitions. This underscores the complexity of electricity sector transitions and reveals important issues such as different ontologies and framings of energy flexibility. By investigating contemporary energy transition discourses, the study argues that a system level understanding of transitions and changes in future making practices currently dominated by quantitative modelling analyses and fixed transition frameworks are essential to effectively manage transitions. Further research is needed to investigate and find ways to better attend to the messiness and multiplicity of energy transitions from a whole systems perspective. This exploratory study is situated in a broader landscape of transitions research about energy futures and provides useful recommendations for both industry and academic communities

Decentralised Energy

As the contribution of renewable energy increases to meet climate change objectives, so does the extent to which electricity is generated by individuals and communities, moving a centralised system to a more decentralised one, with associated system management and integration challenges. However, new digital and storage technologies are enabling local system management, and reducing the need for, and cost of, centralised planning. Creating the right regulatory environment is crucial, but it is especially challenging given the pace of technology change. This book describes the deploying renewable energy in selected countries and describes how each stage is affected by the regulatory and industrial environments, as gives examples of how new business models that enable greater penetration of renewables and more localised grid management and consumer engagement are being deployed

The Future European Energy System

This open access book analyzes the transition toward a low-carbon energy system in Europe under the aspects of flexibility and technological progress. By covering the main energy sectors – including the industry, residential, tertiary and transport sector as well as the heating and electricity sector – the analysis assesses flexibility requirements in a cross-sectoral energy system with high shares of renewable energies. The contributing authors – all European energy experts – apply models and tools from various research fields, including techno-economic learning, fundamental energy system modeling, and environmental and social life cycle as well as health impact assessment, to develop an innovative and comprehensive energy models system (EMS). Moreover, the contributions examine renewable penetrations and their contributions to climate change mitigation, and the impacts of available technologies on the energy system. Given its scope, the book appeals to researchers studying energy systems and markets, professionals and policymakers of the energy industry and readers interested in the transformation to a low-carbon energy system in Europe