Overview and Future Challenges on the Connection of Electric Vehicles into Modern Distribution Power Systems

ABSTRACT

Abstract Distribution systems worldwide have suffered profound alterations to their passive historic characteristic in the last decade due to the ever-increasing installation of distributed generators. Nowadays, it is consensual among researchers and utilities that soon most of the investments in distribution networks will be towards the materialization of smart-grids, which implies even more drastic impacts on the grid operation. In this new context, distributed generators, energy storage systems, electric vehicles and other types of resources will operate in coordination with technologies such as internet of things and big data, in an even more active distribution grid under a decentralized electricity market. Thus, it is fundamental to develop the means to control such an interactive power grid, including technologies, products, and ideas. Although several articles have been published addressing this topic, each country's distribution grids have their peculiarities, and so should the proposals for smart-grid implementation on each of them. In this sense, it is crucial investigating what has already been proposed and implemented in the Brazilian smart-grid context to forecast and formulate the next steps on this topic. Smart-grid comprises several fields, in this paper we focus on the electric vehicle branch, providing a review of the subject under the Brazilian context. Additionally, the paper addresses the development of technologies, electricity market regulation, and strategic business models under the current scenario and a near-future perspective.