Microgrid energy scheduling using storage from electric vehicles

Integrating electric vehicles (EVs) into a microgrid can provide additional energy and storage to the microgrid. The benefits depend on factors such as market prices, EVs' state of charge, and their arrival/departure times. In this paper, it is assumed that the microgrid operates in a grid-connected mode and consists of thermal units, renewable energy resources and a parking facility. An optimization model for the energy management that considers the energy and storage provided by the EVs is proposed. The objective function of the model is to minimize the expected total operation costs including generation, day-ahead market, battery wear, and real-time balancing costs for the next 24 h. The uncertainty of the demand and the available EVs in addition to the intermittency of the renewable energy resources are taken into account. The model is solved using the Benders decomposition algorithm and results are obtained using a 14-bus distribution test system. The results show that using the storage and energy of the EVs reduces the total operation cost of the microgrid.