Competitive Optimal Pricing Strategies for Charging Station Operators in the Frequency Containment Reserves Market

We present an innovative strategy leveraging electric vehicles and their charging station infrastructure to provide grid-balancing services in the ancillary market. Our study focuses on the competition between two charging station operators for customer attraction and participation in the frequency containment reserves market. Our model tracks electric vehicles state-of-charge dynamics considering variables such as driver behavior, state-of-charge levels, and charging/discharging costs. Charging station operators participate in the frequency containment reserves market in collaboration with aggregators. We introduce an optimization framework coupled to game theory tools to determine pricing strategies that maximize profits for charging station operators. Our simulations demonstrate the benefits of charging stations participating in the frequency containment reserves market, whether competing or collaborating.