Transmission-Distribution Dynamic Co-simulation of Electric Vehicles Providing Grid Frequency Response

This paper investigates the impacts of electric vehicles (EVs) on power system frequency regulation based on an open-source transmission-and-distribution (T&D) dynamic co-simulation framework. The development of an EV dynamic model based on an Western Electricity Coordinating Council dynamic model is introduced first, then the T&D dynamic co-simulation platform is described. The advantage of the overall platform is that distributed energy resources, such as distributed photo-voltaics and EVs, are modeled explicitly in both transmission and distribution simulators for frequency and voltage dynamics, respectively. The case studies simulate the frequency responses (i.e., primary and/or secondary) of the EVs after the system is exposed to an N-1 contingency, such as a generation trip. Various EV frequency regulation participation strategies are also investigated to study their impacts on system frequency response. The studies shows that EVs have the potential capability to provide effective frequency regulation services.