Optimal Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) Scheduling of Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEVs) for Grid Peak Demand Management: A State-of-the-Art Review

Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) are exceptionally accelerating in number making them indispensable components of future smart grids all over the world. Their large-scale adoption has sparked significant interest among researchers around the globe due to their remarkable contribution to both the transportation and electricity sectors. Their introduction into the transportation sector helps reduce the serious threats of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and global warming. Their integration into the electricity sector offers both potential benefits and great challenges to the utility grid operators. The massive charging power demand of a large PEV fleet causes detrimental effects on the reliable and stable operation of the grid. Therefore, optimal scheduling of charging PEVs is extremely important to manage the peak demand on the utility grid. Interaction between PEVs and the utility grid has given birth to a new smart grid technology known as Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology which enables power exchange between PEVs and the grid. This paper presents a state-of-the-art review of the latest research carried out on the optimal V2G scheduling of PEVs to manage the peak demand on the grid to smoothen the grid load profile thus mitigating its negative impacts like network congestion, increased power losses, voltage instability, frequency limit violations, harmonic distortion, etc. An overview of PEVs is presented. The V2G concept, technologies, benefits, and challenges are described. Optimal V2G scheduling of PEVs with the research objectives, constraints, and optimization techniques/ methodologies are also discussed., The results of recent research from the literature are presented as a case study. The recommendations/directions for future research on optimal V2G scheduling of PEVs for grid peak demand management are also provided. From the literature, it is found that V2G technology offers a promising solution to utility grid operators to effectively handle the huge peak demand on the PEV-integrated grid.