A solution to maximize renewable energy generations, incentivize battery deployment and promote green transportation

Since electric vehicles (EVs) can play a major role in making the transportation sector more sustainable, the International Energy Agency (IEA) set a target for having over 125 million EVs deployed on the road by 2030 to achieve substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. However, this goal would create enormous challenges to aged electric grids as well as the vulnerable infrastructure in its current condition and may create significant spikes in energy demands. This research provides an innovative conception that foresees a transition from a conventional, stationary battery energy storage systems (BESS), into a non-wired alternative (NWA), mobilized BESS with the aim to: (a) maximize the utilization of variable distributed energy resources (DERs) and renewable energy sources (RES) such as wind and solar. (b) upturn the profitability of BESS that stores the excess DER and RES energy as an alternative to curtailments. (c) promote a greener transportation sector by using the mobile BESS to supply the electric vehicle charging station (EVCS) networks’ demands. This research brings a framework design in which electric semi-trucks (ESTs) transport the batteries between BESS plants and EVCSs. The design will facilitate the planning and operation of EVCS networks without any constraints from the grid. The development of the main idea is carried out by proposing a promising scenario of large-scale deployment of battery powered EVCS networks that can address three important issues toward a sustainable energy landscape in the near future: (1) Suppressed grid integration of variable renewable generations such as wind; (2) Low profitability of BESS due to limited applications; and (3) Conflicts between the current power infrastructure and the installation of charging stations to meet the growing needs of electrical transportation. In many areas in the United States (Texas for example) where there are abundant renewable energy sources and the road networks do not suffer from frequent congestion, the application of this work would be a viable solution. Additionally, and because the management of the logistics system, between the supply and demand sides, is an essential element while planning for the proposed EVCS networks operations, the nearby renewable Chapman Ranch wind farm was used as the test case in the city of Corpus Christi, Texas with its transportation system. Multi-objective optimization problems for the design were formulated and solved considering several economic and technical scenarios