Protecting the distribution grid while maximizing EV energy flexibility with transparency and active user engagement

This paper presents research conducted within two projects where electric vehicle (EV) charging and PV power production are combined in an energy management system (EMS): SlimPark and GridShield. The SlimPark project focuses on the social acceptance of utilizing the available energy flexibility within the EMS by EV users. The GridShield project focuses on protecting the grid against EMS failures and cyber-attacks using a novel stand-alone fallback system. For both projects, full digital twins are hosted within the cyber-physical simulation environment DEMKit. Initial experiments with the SlimPark user interface show that participants are willing to share their energy flexibility by using a smartphone application when starting their EV charging sessions. Simulations using the digital twin show that, if the system is able to receive this flexibility information, grid peak load is reduced by 70% compared to uncontrolled charging and PV self-consumption increases from 26% to 61% in an ‘office parking’ scenario. Initial simulation results on the GridShield digital twin show that the system succeeds in reestablishing power limit-conforming operation to prevent overloading of the local grid in case of EMS failures or a possible cyber-attack.