Medium Voltage Grid Integration of Ultra-Fast Charging Stations

Project description

The emphasis on clean and green technologies to curtail greenhouse gas emissions due to fossil fuel-based economies has prompted the shift towards electric mobility. The three major barriers to EV adoption were high purchase prices, range anxiety, and a lack of charging infrastructure. However, the advancements in battery technology, power electronics, and magnetics, as well as the various governmental subsidies and incentives, have substantially normalized these challenges. The exponentially increasing number of on-road EVs is largely aided by numerous government initiatives aimed at making EVs more accessible and affordable for customers. In order to facilitate a seamless transition to EVs and ensure their smooth operation, an ultra-fast (UF) charging infrastructure that replicates the gasoline refuelling network is urgently required.

Currently, the charging facilities are provided at residential and public places by the low-voltage (LV) distribution networks. Besides the slow charging rates, the main point of concern is the increasing number of EVs, and the provision of charging facilities from the LV network will not only increase the distribution system's complexity and dynamics, but will also challenge its operational capabilities, and large-scale upgrades will be required to meet the inevitably increasing charging demands.

In this PhD project, we aim at the design and analysis of an UF charging station (UFCS) with an MV-grid connection via solid state transformer (SST). As SST has evident benefits over line frequency transformer (LFT) in terms of weight and volume as well as it is more cost effective for AC/DC applications than conventional LFT. To address the peak formation issues in the daily load profile and the high operational expenses of UFCSs, integration of renewable energy sources (RES) and energy storage systems due to their technological and economic benefits should be considered. In the future perspective of RES-penetrated power systems, the provision of grid support services from UFCS will also be investigated.

PhD Candidate:

Adnan Ahmad: A.ahmad-2@tudelft.nl

Supervisor:

Dr. Ir. Zian Qin: Z.qin-2@tudelft.nl

Promoter:

Prof. Dr. Ir. Pavol Bauer: P.bauer@tudelft.nl