Electric Bus Charge/Discharge Scheduling Optimization Method for Power Flow Smoothing in a Distribution System

In recent years, the introduction of electric vehicles (EVs) has been progressing worldwide in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. EVs are a distributed energy resource, such as photovoltaics (PVs) and household battery energy storage systems, attracting attention as a means of ensuring power quality, enhancing resilience, and achieving energy independence. Alternatively, in the power distribution system, power flow is becoming more complicated due to the penetration of PVs and EVs. Thus, it requires reviewing the configuration of power network facilities and changing their operation methods. Therefore, in this study, the power flow is smoothed by optimizing the charge/discharge schedule of the transit electric buses.While many studies currently focus on private EVs, the study focuses on transit electric buses with a high certainty in operation. It constructs a bus model faithful to the actual operation. The reverse power flow (RPF) and normal power flow (NPF) were smoothed by charging/discharging using the proposed method, and the peak cut rate was 67.1% for RPF and 18.1% for NPF. Additionally, the proposed method utilizes the available battery capacity more effectively than the comparison methods and contributes to NPF and RPF smoothing.