Mitigation of voltage regulation challenges in distribution networks using battery energy storage systems

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Reducing greenhouse gas emissions have gained global interest over the last few decades. A key factor for reducing these emissions is shifting towards renewable energy resources (RES) in electricity generation and low or zero-emission vehicles in transportation. Electrification of the transportation sector is currently the most viable option for reducing transportation emissions and thus the production of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) is predicted to rise dramatically in the next few decades. However, integrating large levels of RES and PEVs charging stations into existing distribution system structure creates major voltage regulation challenges due to reverse power flow, power generation/consumption intermittency, and interference with the operation of utility voltage regulation devices. Despite these challenges, other considerations show promise. Battery Energy storage systems (BESS) can be a critical component of grid stability and resiliency. The grid integration of energy storage technologies would reduce the intermittency of RES and also prevent wastage of excess renewable energy feeding into the grid at times when production is at a peak, but demand is low by effectively storing this energy. In addition, integrating BESS into existing grids could enable confident deployment of PEVs by ensuring a stable and consistent supply of the electricity vital to charge their batteries. Toward that end, this project aims to (I) incorporate BESS in the voltage regulation studies of power distribution systems with high penetration of RES and PEVs , and (II) develop a distributed voltage regulation scheme to provide appropriate coordination among the control units of BESS, RES, PEVs and utility voltage regulation devices. The proposed distributed control will help the distribution utilities to mitigate the voltage regulation challenges and thus facilitate seamless integration for high penetration of RES and PEVs into the current grid infrastructure.