Power System Level Impacts of Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles

Speaker: A.P. Meliopoulos

~ 80 attendees

The speaker started by talking about the “Big Picture”. We currently consume 100 quad of energy which is divided evenly between industrial, transportation and electric energy. Along with the petroleum usage, which is abut 20 million barrels a day and the environmental concerns, Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles (PHEV) are necessary.

He also went over the numbers to show the cost savings for the customer to justify PHEVs in the future.

By having PHEVs in the system, there are impacts and they are in the following areas:

• Infrastructure
• Fuel Utilizations
• Impact on Environment
• Power system Reliability/Security

The vehicle design allows for connection and control by the Grid to use so we must be able to modify the infrastructure for it.

Here is a forecast the speaker used: If each family owns 2 PHEVs, it will increase household load by 50%. Give this, the first impact is to the infrastructure so would need to model system for this load increase and determine infrastructure changes and impact. One of the impacted equipment is distribution transformers. The second impact is on fuel utilization and with the increase of load; the fuel consumption will increase for electric generation as well.

The third impact is the increased pollutants from the increased generation. The fourth impact is on the power system and a change in system operation. In one scenario, the vehicles can be called on for help to boost power in the system.

The speaker concluded that the PHEV will make an overall favorable impact and based on what he presented, I would agree. It is matter of finances and technology to make it happen.