Energy storage in power systems

The introduction of electric vehicles (EV) in cities throughout the world has the potential of providing a pool of energy storage to assist with the operational control of power systems. A strategy is proposed which would control the times of EV battery charging and utilise their energy storage to curtail demand of the daily peak periods. It will take another decade before the substantial numbers of EV would require the implementation of the proposed strategy. Putting it in place will require substantial preliminary planning and financial outlay, but all constituent bodies of the power system will many times over recoup this investment. Operational access to energy storage will offer many advantages, including daily energy forecasting instead of hourly demand forecasting, painless load shedding in emergencies, improved reliability of supply, improved system operational security, better voltage control and back-up power for individual consumers and better black start capability.