Smart EV charging in office buildings

Abstract

This study discusses the electric vehicle (EV) charging control in office buildings. In Helsinki, Finland, the EV penetration has risen rapidly during the past years. In addition to home charging, charging at working places is an appealing option. In this research, models of EV charging in office buildings were created and loadings at the metering point were analysed. Uncontrolled EV charging may result in undesirable high demands of power. For the customer, this means a higher distribution price payment if the grid tariff includes a price component based on a monthly peak power. For the distribution system operator, the grid experiences higher loadings and losses. Additionally, investments in new network capacity may be needed. A smart charging scheme can be effectively utilised in order to reduce peak powers. The case study is a real office with eight EV charging points and an office-scale battery energy storage system (BESS). In this demonstration case, the BESS's peak shaving application was also successfully applied to cut the increased power demands. This study has been carried out under the Finnish demonstration of the EU-SysFlex project at Helen Electricity Network Ltd. and Helen Ltd.