Impact on the Distribution Grid Due to the Introduction of Electric Vehicles on Fernando de Noronha Island (Brazil)

Abstract Increasing global temperatures over the past years have become a worry. To mitigate this, countries have set out to decrease their greenhouse gas emissions soon. A major contributor to these emissions has been the transport sector. Electric mobility has appeared as an opportunity to decarbonize this sector. With this in mind, Fernando de Noronha Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has determined to ban all fossil fuel vehicles by 2030. Understanding the impact electric vehicles can have on the island's distribution grid is fundamental to achieving this goal. To determine these impacts, electrical vehicle chargers were added to the model of the island's power system in GridLad-D. Apart from these chargers, the impact of adding an extra carport charger fitted with solar panels was also determined. In total, six different charging scenarios were simulated, with each varying the period in which vehicle charging was allowed to take place. The impacts were determined for the day, afternoon, and night charging, with and without the presence of a carport. The parameters measured include system power demand, voltage, and total losses. From the results, it was possible to determine the charging strategy that causes the least and most impact on the system's distribution grid.

Recent Research and Development of Microgrids in Parana

Abstract Microgrids (MGs) have increasingly attracted the attention of researchers, government officials, and electricity companies for the values and services they can add to the grid. They can operate independently as a single controllable unit in a coordinated way while connected or islanded, which make them suitable to integrate the growing amount of distributed energy resources (DERs) into the distribution network (DN). An active distribution network with high penetration of DERs could be redefined into a collection of microgrids in different layers, pooling their resources together to enhance the grid's performance in the sense of electricity as a service. However, enabling a microgrid-based power system infrastructure poses challenges concerning operation and control. In this paper, a comprehensive overview of research topics regarding microgrid operation are shown in a hierarchical or stratified manner, looking for a holistic vision of a microgrid-based distribution system. First, multi-objective optimization within one microgrid is formulated aiming to minimize costs and maximize battery life is presented. Second, the interaction among MGs, DERs and the DN was modeled using the OPF technique to represent the operation of the grid as a whole. Following, a methodology for collaborative optimization of multiple MGs operating together is presented and at last a theoretical framework for MG operation through decentralized energy markets is discussed. As a result, this paper aims to contribute to a broad vision of the distribution system based on microgrid operation in all its levels.