Real‐time agent‐based control of plug‐in electric vehicles for voltage and thermal management of LV networks: formulation and HIL validation

Ensuring a stable and reliable operation of current and future distribution networks represents a major challenge for system operators aggravated by the global proliferation of plug‐in electric vehicles (PEVs). While the introduction of a controlled charging process would be advantageous to minimise the impacts PEVs cause in the system, a suitable, efficient and ready to be implemented solution is still missing. The present work addresses this issue by proposing a smart charging management solution capable to simultaneously combat the main network impacts derived from the energy needs of the vehicles. This is done by means of an agent‐based hierarchical real‐time algorithm which combines a local decentralised nodal voltage management with a centralised thermal control conceived to minimise the impact upon participating users. The effectiveness of the proposed system is tested both using a simulation environment considering multiple PEV penetration levels and employing commercially available charging stations and cars through hardware‐in‐the‐loop simulations. The results reveal how all network violations are successfully attenuated by peak shaving the total aggregated charging demand and ensuring a correct system operation for all penetration scenarios while inflicting no impact on the participating users.