Simulation-based investigation on economic feasibility of frequency regulation using aggregated electric vehicles in smart grid

Frequency regulation is used to balance the generation and demand throughout the electricity grid on a real time basis. Recently, with the increasing growth of the market share of Electric Vehicles (EVs), the integration of EVs into the smart grid with respect to providing the service of frequency regulation has drawn wide attention from both industry and academia. In this paper, we develop a simulation model to investigate the potential economic feasibility of using EVs in frequency regulation. A one-step ahead myopic strategy is adopted in the simulation model to identify the decisions in terms of the energy flow between the individual EVs and the grid upon the update of the regulation signals from the grid. The benefits of EV aggregator include the bonus for the contribution to the reserved capacity and the actual energy dispatched as well as the payment for the possible battery degradations. Some existing payment rates for frequency regulation in the market are tested. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to investigate the influence of the variations of the payment rates on the model performance. The results are discussed to provide some initial insights regarding the optimal control strategy for the EVs in frequency regulation.