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Electric vehicles (EV) have gained global attention due to increasing oil prices and rising concerns about transportation-related urban air pollution and climate change. While mass adoption of EVs has several economic and environmental benefits, large-scale deployment of EVs on the low-voltage (LV) urban distribution networks will also result in technical challenges. This paper proposes a simple and easy to implement single-phase EV charging coordination strategy with three-phase network supply, in which chargers connect EVs to the less loaded phase of their feeder at the beginning of the charging process. Hence, network unbalance is mitigated and, as a result, EV hosting capacity is increased. A new concept, called Maximum EV Hosting Capacity (HC max ) of low voltage distribution networks, is introduced to objectively assess and quantify the enhancement that the proposed phase-shifting strategy could bring to distribution networks. The resulting performance improvement has been demonstrated over three real UK residential networks through a comprehensive Monte Carlo simulation study using Matlab and OpenDSS tools. With the same EV penetration level, the under-voltage probability was reduced in the first network from 100% to 54% and in the second network from 100% to 48%. Furthermore, percentage voltage unbalance factors in the networks were successfully restored to their original values before any EV connection.INDEX TERMS Charging management, electric vehicles, low voltage networks, voltage unbalance.

Three-phase unbalanced conditions in distribution networks are conventionally caused by load imbalance, asymmetrical fault conditions of transformers and impedances of three phases. The uneven integration of single-phase distributed generation (DG) worsens the imbalance situation. These unbalanced conditions result in financial losses, inefficient utilisation of assets and security risks to the network infrastructure. In this study, a phase-changing soft open point (PC-SOP) is proposed as a new way of connecting soft open points (SOPs) to balance the power flows among three phases by controlling active power and reactive power. Then an operational strategy based on PC-SOPs is presented for three-phase four-wire unbalanced systems. By optimising the regulation of SOPs, optimal energy storage systems dispatch and DG curtailment, the proposed strategy can reduce power losses and three-phase imbalance. Second-order cone programming (SOCP) relaxation is utilised to convert the original non-convex and non-linear model into an SOCP model which can be solved efficiently by commercial solvers. Case studies are conducted on a modified IEEE 34-node three-phase four-wire system and the IEEE 123node test feeder to verify the effectiveness, efficiency and scalability of the proposed PC-SOP concept and its operational strategy.MAX maximum active and maximum reactive powers of DER at node i at time t * conjugate transpose

There is a growing interest from owners of distributed energy resources (DERs) to actively participate in the energy market through peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading. Many strategies have been proposed to base P2P energy trading on. However, in those schemes neither the costs of assets usage nor the losses incurred are so far taken into account. This paper presents a transaction-oriented dynamic power flow tracing (PFT) platform for distribution networks (DNs) implemented in a geographic information system (GIS) environment. It introduces a new transaction model that quantifies the use of the DN, apportions the losses and unlocks a flexible use of the surplus generation enabling that prosumers can adopt simultaneously different mechanisms for participation in energy trading, maximizing renewable energy usage. The platform is also helpful for future distribution system operators (DSOs) to overcome the status invisibility of low voltage (LV) DNs, determine who makes use of the assets, debit the losses on them and explore the effects from new connections. A case study is conducted over the IEEE European LV Test Feeder. The tool provides a clear, intuitive, temporal and spatial assessment of the network operation and the resulting power transactions, including losses share and efficiency of DERs.

This article presents a two-stage optimization model aiming to determine optimal energy mix in distribution networks, i.e., battery energy storage, fuel cell, and wind turbines. It aims to alleviate the impact of high renewable penetration on the systems. To solve the proposed complex optimization model, a standard variant of the dragonfly algorithm (DA) has been improved and then applied to find the optimal mix of distributed energy resources. The suggested improvements are validated before their application. A heuristic approach has also been introduced to solve the second stage problem that determines the optimal power dispatch of battery energy storage as per the size suggested by the first stage. The proposed framework was implemented on a benchmark 33-bus and a practical Indian 108-bus distribution network over different test cases. The proposed model for energy mix and modified DA technique has significantly enhanced the operational performance of the network in terms of average annual energy loss reduction, node voltage profiles, and demand fluctuation caused by renewables.