Optimal active distribution system management considering aggregated plug-in electric vehicles

•An optimal model for maximizing economic benefits is proposed to achieve active distribution system management.•The optimal model is integrated with the active curtailment mechanism for the renewable generation and flexible management strategies for the aggregated PEVs.•Two intelligent interruptible control strategies for PEVs charging and discharging are proposed.

Increasing distributed energy resources in the active distribution system requires greater flexibility of active management and better utilization of existing network assets. An optimal active management model is proposed in this paper for the flexible operation of the active distribution system from the view of maximum economic benefits of the local power company. This active management scheme is presented with the multi-period optimal power flow framework, which includes both generation curtailment and intelligent control of the aggregated PEVs. The behavior data of the PEVs are generated by Monte-Carlo simulations based on the probability functions. A generic active distribution network is used to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed model and strategies. Results show that high operational flexibility of an active distribution system can be achieved by employing intelligent strategies-based active management.