Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) and Renewable Energy (RE) Technologies for Grid Peak Load Management and Sustainability: A State-of-the-Art Survey

Accelerating the e-mobility and renewable energy (RE) revolution to green the global transportation and electricity sectors is undeniably paramount in order to foster sustainable economic progress, safeguard the planet from the perils of climate degradation, mitigate the depletion of fossil fuel resources, and combat the escalating threat of global warming. Therefore, the transportation sector is swiftly shifting from traditional petrol/diesel engine vehicles to electric vehicles (EVs). Similarly, the electricity sector is also rapidly transitioning from fossil-fuel-sourced generation to renewableenergy-sourced generation. These global vicissitudes also ensure oil independence and energy security. The widespread adoption of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) presents the utility smart electricity grid with great advantages and significant challenges to its techno-economic-sustainable operation. The uncoordinated charging patterns of large-scale PEVs necessitate the drawing of large charging power from the utility smart grid. This leads to an increase in grid peak load and system power losses, operation costs, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, etc. The implementation of Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology efficiently addresses these adverse impacts through smart charging and discharging of PEVs. This paper provides a state-of-the-art survey of current research studies that focus on the implementation of V2G and renewable energy (RE) technologies as effective strategies for grid peak load management and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction providing techno-economic-sustainability in utility smart grid operation. A concise overview of the V2G notion and technology, the impacts of V2G technology, and the optimization of V2G scheduling for PEVs are also given, in addition to research gaps and future recommendations.