A Heuristic Technique For EV Hosting Capacity Enhancement In Power Distribution Network

Recently, electric vehicles (EV) have gained significant attention in Bangladesh. The policy makers are realizing the necessity for a paradigm shift and switching transportation system to a clean energy option. However, it is to be noted that disproportionate deployment of large-scale EVs on the distribution networks may results issues like low voltage, overloading of distribution feeder etc. The key to mitigate these violations is appropriate hosting capacity assessment. This paper presents a method to enhance the EV hosting capacity (HC) based on an optimal capacitor placement (OCP) procedure. Appropriate placement of shunt capacitors in power distribution network significantly improves voltage, reduces line losses, improves power factor and enhance hosting capacity. Variable loading condition is considered and both fixed and switched type capacitor banks are used so that no under- or over-compensation occurs under any loading condition. A cost function is used to ensure the optimum investment. Voltage and thermal overloading are considered as the governing criteria for assessing the EV hosting capacity. Application of this technique on the IEEE 15-bus radial network shows excellent performance. The methodology is also applied in a real network of Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC), a government owned power distribution utility in Bangladesh and significant hosting capacity improvement has been observed.