Coordinated Planning of Electric Power and Natural Gas Distribution Systems With Refueling Stations for Alternative Fuel Vehicles in Transportation System

The alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) which include electric vehicles (EVs) and natural gas vehicles (GVs) have gained much attention in recent years for delivering a clean and low-carbon urban mobility. The AFV development is promoting the coordination among electric power, natural gas, and transportation (ENT) networks. This paper proposes a coordinated planning method for investment on and operation of emerging urban energy infrastructures. The sites and sizes of refueling stations are optimized along with the expansion strategies for electric power distribution network (PDN) and natural gas distribution network (GDN). First, AFV refueling demands are analyzed according to the refueling station constraints and options, and transportation network (TN) constraints. Second, the coordinated planning model for PDN and GDN is formulated along with respective operation constraints in PDN, GDN, and TN. An efficient MILP solution method is developed for the proposed optimization problem. Finally, several case studies verify the effectiveness of the proposed model and its solution method. Compared with existing solutions, the proposed panning method offers a more accurate AFV refueling demand model with various refueling options. It is demonstrated that the coordinated planning can reduce investment and operation costs of urban energy infrastructures by exploring the pertinent interactions among constrained PDN, GDN, and TN.