Ladeinfrastruktur 2.0

Optimising the coordinated extension and operation of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles and distribution grids

The project addresses the optimisation of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles considering energy and grid economic criteria. To this end, demands and interests of car users, manufactures of cars and infrastructure, grid operators, and energy providers shall be integrated. The focus of the overarching analysis is on the interplay between products, tariffs, regulations, planning, and operation.

Flow chart of flexibility market
Course of flexibility market. Initially, baseline energy schedules (1) and flexibility demands (2) are sent to the market platform. HEMS can retrieve demand figures and bid flexibility (3). Resulting changes in the schedule are sent to the DSO (4). In case flexibilities are not sufficient, curtailment takes place (5).

Development of an agent-based flexibility market

As one of the considered distribution grid operation strategies, at INES a flexibility market is conceptualised, implemented, and analysed. Based on originally planned energy schedules of Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) these are enabled to define flexibilities as deviations from the proposed schedule and place these as bids at the flexibility market platform. Considering the distribution service operator‘s (DSO) demand for flexibility, the platform performs a matching for each of short intervals of the next day. In doing so, the platform respects dependencies and grid restrictions. By means of a connected grid simulation, the effects of such a matching can be estimated, the matching can be improved if necessary, and results are played back to HEMS.

Potentially, this operation strategy can serve a high number of different customers, and its effect can be controlled spatially and temporally to mitigate grid congestions precisely. An important aspect of the research at INES is the interplay between flexibility market design and customer behaviour and its effect on price development and grid stability. The flexibility market will be integrated as one component in the project‘s overarching simulation environment in order to investigate the interplay with other operation strategies.

FundingFederal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action
Period06/2020 - 12/2021
StaffDr. Sascha Holzhauer
Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action