XIX International Conference on Electrical Machines - ICEM 2010, Rome

Vehicles to Grid (V2G) concept applied to a

Virtual Power Plant Structure
M. Musio1, P. Lombardi2, A. Damiano3

Φ
Abstract -- Renewable energy sources will play an geographic limitations, both pumped hydro and CAES
increasingly central role in the power network of the future. systems are more suitable for centralized energy storage
The will to reduce the dependence on fossil sources as well as plants than for distributed ones.
growing environmental awareness, both individually and
governmentally, is forcing governments throughout the world
to invest an enormous amount of capital in renewable energy
sources. The European Union, through its Energy and Climate
Policy, has fixed an ambitious target: to provide, 20% of
electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
The additional volatility introduced by renewable energy
source to the grid can be compensated by energy storage
systems as well as by demand control measurements and by the
reinforcement of the power grid. These solutions can improve
the system reliability of the electric grid and the efficiency of
the energy supply and give more flexibility to the system.
This study analyzes the possibilities to use electric vehicles
connected to the grid as energy storage system within a Virtual
Power Plant structure. Through the formulation of an
Fig. 1 Energy storage classification. The diagram is based on [2] with the
optimization problem the optimal number of electric vehicles addition of hydrogen in the energy management area
has been evaluated.

Index Terms— LiFePO4 battery, combined heat and power

Electric Vehicles (EVs) connected to the grid, so called
plant, electric vehicles, energy storage systems, renewable V2G, offer a new possibility for energy storage purposes.
energy sources, phasor measurement units, vehicle to grid, Such kinds of green mobility systems are not yet wide-
virtual power plant. spread, but it is expected that in the next decades their use
will increase.
I. INTRODUCTION From the electric grid point of view the V2G could be seen
both as an electricity consumer and as an electricity supplier.
R enewable energy sources (RES) are going to play an
important role in the network of the future. Thanks to
the increasing environmental awareness and to the will
In fact the energy stored in their battery packs can be
delivered to the grid when it is required.
In the second section of this paper the main characteristics of
to reduce the dependence of fossil sources, the energy policy a VPP with high penetration of RES are described. In the
of many governments around the world aims to strongly section thereafter, the concept of V2G as well as the charge
support the use of renewable sources. Unfortunately some of and discharge models of a Lithium-ion based battery is
these sources, such as Wind and Photovoltaic (PV), are not explained. Then a study case (section four) on the utilization
always able to supply power when it is required. of V2G as a distributed energy storage system within a VPP
Energy storage systems, reinforcement of the power grid, structure is analyzed. The main results are underlined in
demand control measurements as well as Virtual Power section five. Finally the conclusions are stated in section six.
Plant structures (VPP) are candidate solutions to increase the
system reliability of the electric grid and to support the use II. VIRTUAL POWER PLANT STRUCTURE
of RES. A VPP structure is an aggregation composed of distributed
Depending on the discharge time and the power rating, generators, controllable loads and energy storage systems.
energy storage systems are classified in three main areas They are controlled by means of a central Energy
(Fig. 1): Management System (EMS) which coordinates them as if
• Power quality they worked like a unique power plant. For its purposes, the
• Power bridging EMS makes use of remote control equipments and
• Energy management communication systems. The communication is
Electric batteries are able to cover all of these three main bidirectional, so that the EMS can not only receive
areas. For energy management applications some of them, information about the current status of each unit, but it can
also send the signals for controlling them. Nowadays the
like NaS batteries, are going to became economically
global positioning systems (GPS) can be used not only for
competitive with pumped hydro or Compressed Air Energy
the evaluation of the geographic coordinates, but also for
Storage systems (CAES) [1]. Moreover, due to the taking the time tag from them [3]. Thanks to the atomic
1
clock, which is placed on all GPS satellites, it is possible to
M. Musio is with the CRS4 (e-mail: mauramusio@alice.it) have a very high time quality. Phasor Measurement units
2
P. Lombardi is with the Institute of Electrical Energy Systems, Otto
von Guericke University, Magdeburg, 39106 Germany (e-mail: (PMU), which use this attribute of the GPS signals, are able
pio.lombardi@ovgu.de) to save the measurement with the accurate date and time
3
A. Damiano is with the Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettrica ed information as well as to provide the synchronisation
Elettronica, Università di Cagliari, Piazza D’armi, 09100 Cagliari, Italy impulse, which is used for all the devices to produce a
(e-mail: alfio@diee.unica.it)
synchronous measurement. PMUs usually use a

978-1-4244-4175-4/10/$25.00 ©2010 IEEE

microprocessor to calculate the phasor and then to send the generate and distribute electricity more efficiently,
data through the communication infrastructure, e.g. local economically and securely.
area network (LAN) to a phasor data concentrator (PDC), These structures represent the backbone of the VPP and
where the measurement data is saved and then, in the next require a massive and diffused presence of electric energy
step, processed. PMUs can use voltage and/or current as storage systems. The EV and in particular its energy storage
input data. equipment is considered one of most interesting technical
As energy sources, the distributed generators can use both solution to implement the distributed storage and to allow
fossil and renewable energy. Usually the generators of a the application of these models.
VPP are wind turbines, PV plants and combined heat and
power plants (CHP). Normally VPPs are connected with the a. The Vehicle to grid (V2G) technology
public grid, but they can also be operated in an autonomous
modus. Demand control measurements like load shifting and Several models that described the future impact of the EVs
shutdown as well as energy storage systems increase the on the performances and economics of the electric network
optimal modus operandi of a VPP. have been developed. One of them suggests the "Vehicle to
From an economic point of view, a VPP may offer a Grid" (V2G) technology as a possible solution to the effect
competitive energy block and auxiliary services. A VPP can on network stability of distributed generation development.
sell its electricity to the energy market or stipulate bilateral In such a model the electric vehicles are considered both as a
contracts with the customers (industrial or residential). It can means of transportation and as an energy storage system.
take part in the Day-ahead, Intraday Market as well as in the The EVs might be used for several network services, for
auxiliary service market. As auxiliary service a VPP can not stabilizing the grid and for supporting renewable energy
only offer active reserve for frequency control or reactive resources exploitation.
power reserve for local voltage control, but also power This consideration is based on the analysis of number of cars
quality, communication or energy business services [4]. A per capita, on cars space and time distribution, on the
VPP can be composed of persons, energy companies and average utilization factor and on the time and space
contracting companies and established utility companies [5] . correlation between electric energy and car use. In fact, the
Depending on roles and responsibility, a VPP is vehicles are usually parked for 90% of the time constituting
distinguished as a Commercial (CVPP) and Technical an idle electrochemical resource which could provide or
Virtual Power Plant (TVPP). A CVPP aims to optimize the adsorb energy to/from the grid if it is connected. This is the
VPP from an economical point of view. On the other hand, a basic concept of the so called vehicle-to-grid (V2G)
TVPP aims to ensure that the VPP is operated in an technology
optimized and secure way [6]. An EV must have three or more elements in order to provide
such a type of service. First at all, it must to have a
bidirectional power interface in order to supply or adsorb
energy. The second fundamental element is an energy
management system (EMS). Such an element has to control
and measure the energy flows from/to the battery pack.
Finally, a communication protocol between grid operator
and EV owner to transfer all the information useful to the
EMS and to evaluate the cost and the revenues associated
with the services.

b. Electric Vehicles and Battery

The classification of electric vehicles is essentially based on

the supply and storage system. In general five types of
system can be considered: the traditional battery electric
Fig. 2 Virtual Power Plant structure and Energy Markets participation [7]
vehicles (EVs), the hybrid vehicles, the fuel cell vehicles, the
vehicles powered by photovoltaic cells and finally the
vehicles that store energy by alternative systems like
III. VEHICLES TO GRID (V2G) CONCEPT
flywheels or super capacitors [8]. In this paper a
The energetic transformation related to the development of rechargeable battery electric vehicle has been considered
renewable energy and to the rational use of energy is characterised by the use of a lithium iron phosphate battery
changing the role of the electric power grid and, in (LiFePO4) battery.
particular, of the distribution grid. The LiFePO4 battery is a Li-Ion battery characterised by a
At the present time the electric distribution network is the LiFePO4 cathode. The LiFePO4 is a material that has a stable
main energy interface for renewable sources. This is structure, is non-toxic, less expensive than other cathode
radically changing the task of this system, which is assuming materials, is available in large quantities and allows cells to
more and more the function of interconnection systems obtain a high capacity (170 mAh/g). The LiFePO4 battery is
between distributed generations and end user. The rapid efficient and it is characterised by a high number of cycle
growth of distributed generation and the consequent charge (2000-3000 cycles). The operating range temperature
variability in time and space of energy production and is between [-30°C +60°C] and the storage temperature range
consumption make the system too complex to be managed can reach a range between [-50°C +60°C]. For all the above
with the models used at the present time. This is forcing the mentioned reasons the LiFePO4 battery is considered one of
implementation of new paradigms of energy management. the best candidates for autonomous EV.
One of these is the smart grid, defined as a modern grid that Accurate measurement tests on LiFePO4 were developed in
uses advanced communication and control technologies to order to model the charge and discharge phenomena of this
kind of battery. In particular, an experimental analysis on
lithium iron phosphate batteries under different current and time of EV LiFePO4 battery, was used to develop the V2G
temperature operating conditions was developed. The simulations in the proposed VPP model.
dynamic performance during strong load variations was
tested [9].
The data collected were used to develop a mathematic model
of LiFePO4 batteries. In particular, functions of the
charge/discharge voltages and currents versus the energy
were developed by the use of the Matlab curve fitting
toolbox. The comparison of goodness-of-fit statistics like the
summed square of residuals (SSE) and the square of the
correlation between the response values and the predicted
response values (R-square) have highlighted the best fit
function. For the discharge curve the 9th degree polynomial
gives the best results.
The comparison of different fitting functions is reported in
Fig. 3. The formula of the 9th degree polynomial used for
modelling the discharge process is reported in eq.1:
V = ( -1.168 ⋅10-9 E9 + 1.356 ⋅10-7 E8 -6.646 ⋅10-6 E 7 +
+0.0001788E 6 -0.002881E 5 + Fig. 3 Different fits for the discharge voltage curve of LiFePO4 battery

+ 0.02846E 4 − 0.1696E 3 + 0.5773E 2 (1)

Charge at 1150mA of a 2.3 Ah Li-FePO4 battery

)
15
−1.022E + 13.76 14.5

14
Such an equation was used to simulate discharge processes 13.5
of LifePO4 EV battery by an algorithm developed in Matlab
Battery voltage [Volt] 13
environment. The discharge current (I) is set constant to a
value that can be expressed as a function of the nominal
12.5

capacity (C) of the battery. 12 Charge time=120mins

Eq. (1) shows the cell’s voltage dependency (V) on the value 11.5

of the energy (E). Therefore, the voltage and the power (P) 11

change as the battery is charged or discharged. A discrete 10.5

time energy model reported in eq. (2) is used in which the 10

0 20 40 60 80 100 120
power is consider constant in order to be able to determine Time [mins]

the energy at the next step. Fig. 4 Simulation of LiFePO4 battery charge process: voltage versus time
Δt ⋅ n
En = En−1 + Pn −1 ⋅ (2) Constant current discharge at 1C of a 2.3 Ah Li-FePO4 battery

3600
14

The En value of the energy allows to calculate the 13

correspondent value of the voltage (Vn) and hence the value

of P for the next step. The discrete time length Δt depends
Battery voltage [Volts]

12

on the battery’s type and on the simulated processes (charge

2.3A

11
or discharge), and it is based on the test results of the real 5A

batteries. The simulation of the charge process of LiFePO4 10

batteries is more complicated than the discharge one. Such a 7A

process consists of two different phases: the first at constant 9

current (CC) and the second at constant voltage (CV).

During the phase at CC the voltage is calculated as a
8
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time [mins]
function of energy and the simulation steps are those Fig. 5 Simulation of LiFePO4 battery discharge process: voltage versus time
explained above. Nevertheless, when the voltage reaches the for different current values
maximum value, it remains constant at that value (CV 330 100

phase). Therefore, from this point the voltage is not a 315

90

function of the battery’s energy. Instead, the current 300

80

70

decreases and can be expressed as a function of energy.

Battery voltage [Volt]

60
285
SoC [%]

The comparison of simulation results of the proposed model, 270

50

40

for different discharge and charge conditions, with the 255 30

experimental test evolution made on an A123 System 240

20

LiFePO4 battery (3,3 V nominal voltage, 2,3 Ah capacity)

10

60 490
225 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600

confirmed a good matching. The simulation results are Time [mins] Time [mins]

reported in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5. The model was used to develop

the charging and discharging process simulation of a
LiFePO4 battery used in a commercial EV whose data are Fig. 6 Simulation of LiFePO4 EV battery
reported in TABLE I
The simulations of battery charge for a current of 10 A are
reported in Fig. 6 and perfectly match with the EV data
sheet. The developed battery model which allows for
simulating the energy, voltage and state of charge (SOC) vs.
 IV. STUDY CASE AND OBJECTIVE FUNCTION DEFINITION behavior of the industrial zone, data found in the literature
The benefits to use electric vehicles as distributed energy was used [10].
storage systems within a VPP structure were analyzed in this The electric fleet is divided into three sub-fleets (A, B, C)
study. These benefits were considered from an economical which represent three different drive profiles. The sub-fleet
point of view. The aim is then to find the optimal number of A travels daily 40 km, the sub-fleet B 50 km, while the sub-
EVs which minimize all the costs of the VPP structure. fleet C drives 60 km. The TABLE III shows the time of use
It was supposed that the VPP stipulated a bilateral contract of the three sub-fleets.
TABLE III
agreement with an industrial zone and a city district. The TIME OF USE FOR THE THREE SUB FLEETS
VPP provides thermal and electrical energy to the industrial Sub-fleet Time of use
zone and electricity to the city district. Moreover, it was A From 7:00 to 8:00 and from
assumed that the VPP works autonomously from the electric 16:00 to17:00
grid, meaning that it cannot buy or sell electricity to the main
B From 8:00 to 9:00 and from
grid.
17:00 to 18:00
The VPP is mainly composed of a CHP plant, a Wind farm,
C From 6:00 to 7:00 and from
a PV plant and an external boiler. A gas turbine, which burns
natural gas, was considered as the prime mover of the CHP 15:00 to 16:00
plant. Additionally, it is supposed that the CHP plant is heat
The objective function (OF) of the optimization problem is
driven. The CHP plant can also use an external boiler which
then defined as the minimization of all the costs met by the
offers more flexibility and reliability to the VPP.
VPP (see eq. (3))
An Energy Management System coordinates the energy
production (electrical and thermal) both from the CHP and 8760
the external boiler depending on the generation by renewable OF = min ∑ (∑G j ,t + St + Et − At + CVOLL,t ) (3)
energy sources (Wind and PV) and on the energy demands. t =1 j

Demand side measurements are also taken into Subject to: active power balance constraint (4), thermal
consideration: through bilateral contract agreements with the power balance constraint (5), conventional plant capacity
industrial zone, the EMS, in some events, can shutdown the limit (6) and the number of EVs limit (7)
less gainful industrial processes. Nevertheless this procedure
causes costs to the industrial customers. Such costs are
∑P - ∑P
i j
=0 (4)
i j
estimated by means of the Value of Loss Load (VOLL).
The electric vehicles connected to the grid are analyzed both ∑(Q i
- Qj ) = 0 (5)
i,j
as electricity demanders and also as electric storage systems.
This study considered a fleet of city cars which uses 5 MW ≤ PCHP ≤ 25 MW (6)
LiFePO4 as the battery pack. The main characteristics of
EVs are shown in the TABLE I . 100 ≤ n ≤ 7000 (7)
TABLE I where,
MAIN SPECIFICATIONS OF THE ELECTRIC VEHICLES Gc j : Electrical and thermal generation costs of the
Characteristics Units-Properties generator j
Top Speed 120 (km/h) St : Storage costs
Range 150 (km) Et : Costs for not generating from renewable resources
Type Battery LiFePO4
(external costs)
Voltage Battery Pack 288 (V)
At : Costs for using an alternative vehicle to reach the
Capacity Battery Pack 80 (Ah)
destination
Energy Battery Pack 23 (kWh)
CVOLL : Costs for blocking industrial processes which are
Consumption 142.9 (Wh/km)
Recharge Time (0÷80%) 0.5÷8 (hours) estimated using the VOLL parameter (Value of Loss
Load)
Pi : Active power generated
In the TABLE II the main parameters of the analyzed VPP Pj : Active power demand
are reported. Qi : Thermal power generated
TABLE II
CHARACTERISTIC OF THE VPP: POWER DEMAND AND Qj : Thermal power demanded
GENERATION
System Electrical Thermal In order to evaluate the energy generation costs the
(MW) (MW) Levelized Unit Energy Costs approach was used. The
City District 20 0 storage costs (the purchase of EVs) were also levelized
during their life time, which depends on the number of
Industrial zone 25 25 cycles of their battery pack. The external costs are associated
Wind Farm 28 with the generation of electricity by burning natural gas.
PV Plant 7 These costs range between 10 and 40 €/MWh [11]. In this
External boiler 25 study a value of 20 €/MWh was considered. The value of the
VOLL was initially set to 8000 €/MWh. Finally, the authors
In order to simulate the behavior of the VPP, data of two assumed the cost for using an alternative vehicle for reaching
German power networks was used. These data describe the the chosen destination (for example to use a taxi) to be a
electricity generation of the Wind farm and PV plant. value of 20 € per route.
Moreover, they also report the electricity demand of the city More details on the economical assumption are summarized
district. Due to the lack of information for modeling the in the TABLE IV.
 TABLE IV from the technical and economical point of view of EVs
SUMMARY OF THE ASSUMED COSTS
connected to the power grid in V2G mode
Parameter Value Unit In TABLE V the economic results obtained by the
Investment cost of the CHP1 1117 (€/kWel) simulations are shown. Although in the second scenario the
O&M fix cost of the CHP1 14896 (€/year) generation costs are increased by more than 5,5 % (due to
O&M variable cost of the CHP1 0.006 (€/kWhel) the load of the electric vehicles) the entire costs met by the
Life time of the CHP 25 (years) VPP are reduced by 26,5 %.
Investment cost of the boiler1 141.51 (€/kWth)
O&M fix cost of the boiler1 29304 (€/year)
O&M variable cost of the boiler1 0.0075 (€/kWhth)
Life time of the boiler 30 (years)
Fuel price (natural gas) 2 17 (€/MWh)
Investment cost of the wind park2 1000 (€/kW)
O&M cost of the wind farm2 38 (€/kW)
Life time 20 (years)
Investment cost of the PV2 2500 (€/kW)2
O&M cost of the PV2 29.4 (€/kW)
Life time 20 (years)
Discount rate 6 (%)
Fig. 7 : Three day evolution of electrical Production (Psup) and Demand
Electric vehicles 30000 (€) (Pdem) of analysed electrical grid.
Average cost to use an
20 (€/route)
alternative vehicle
External costs 20 (€/MWh)
VOLL 8000 (€/MWh)
1
[12] 2[13]

V. RESULTS
In order to evaluate the economical benefits provided by
EVs connected to the grid, two main scenarios were studied.
In the first scenario the VPP without EVs was analyzed,
while the second scenario evaluated the EVs work as
distributed energy storage systems and as electric loads.
In both scenarios the EMS operates in order to minimize the
total costs of the VPP. In the first scenario, in the case of Fig. 8 Proposed VPP time evolution with V2G
electricity surplus the EMS reduces both the electrical and
the thermal generation from the CHP plant. Since the CHP The optimal number of EVs to minimize the entire costs of
plant is heat driven, the EMS actives, at the same time, the the VPP mainly depends on two factors: the assumed Value
external boiler to cover the heat demanded. If the electric of Load Loss and the price of the EVs.
surplus has not been balanced the EMS reduces the power Considering a VOLL of 8000 € the optimal number of EVs
coming from renewable sources. In the case of an electric is between 3500 and 3750 (see Fig. 9). Then, in this case the
deficit, the EMS shutdowns the less gainful industrial price of the EVs does not have a high influence on the total
processes according to the contract agreements stipulated costs.
with the industrial customers. In the second scenario the EVs TABLE V
are not only analyzed as means of transport (then electric COMPARAISON BETWEEN THE 1ST AND 2ND SCENARIOS
load), but also as distributed energy storage systems. In the Costs (M€) 1st Scenario 2nd Scenario
case of electricity surplus the EMS stores it in the battery Generation costs 15,23 16,10
packs of the EVs (if they are connected to the grid). If the EVs annual 0 12,22
surplus has not been balanced, the EMS reduces the costs
generation, both thermal and electrical, of the CHP (as in the Costs for using 0 2,6
first scenario). In the case of deficit and if the EVs are an alternative
connected to the grid, the EMS discharges the energy stored vehicle
in the battery packs to cover all or a part of the deficit. The Deficit costs 115,94 65,44
EMS may not totally discharge the batteries of the EVs. It Total costs 131,21 96,38
was assumed that the EMS has to leave at least enough
energy for driving one route. In reality the amount of charge Fig. 10 summarizes graphically the dependency of the total
and discharge energy is decided by the owners of the EVs costs and the deficit costs on the number of EVs.
who set the Battery Energy Management System (BEMS) of If the stipulated bilateral contract agreements consider a
their vehicles according to their energy trading aim. payment for the loss load of 4000 € per MWh then the
The simulation results relative to three days of the proposed influence of the EVs price became relevant (see Fig. 10) In
VPP with and without V2G are reported respectively in Fig. fact the optimal number of EVs ranges between 2750 and
7 and Fig. 8. In particular, the VPP simulation with V2G 3100 (see Fig. 11)
takes into account the effect of time evolution of battery
charge and discharge, and it is useful to define the effects
 135
the second one EVs are considered both as electric loads and
P ric e E V 30000€ as distributed electric storage systems.
In was supposed that the VPP cannot buy or sell electricity
130 P ric e E V 20000€
P ric e E V 15000€
125
to the main grid, but it works autonomously. Moreover, the
120
VPP has stipulated bilateral contract agreements which
115 consider fines if it is not able to supply electricity. Besides
Total Cost/M€

110 the economical benefits, the aim of the study is to evaluate

105 the optimal number of EVs which minimizes the total costs
100
of the VPP. This number is mainly influenced by two
95
parameters: price of EVs and the considered value of load
loss. The price of the EVs becomes more relevant if the
VOLL parameter is lower.
90

85
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000

VII. REFERENCES
Num ber E V s

Fig. 9 Sensitivity analysis: total costs of the VPP vs the number of EVs,
VOLL 8000 €/MWh
[1] M. Kleimaier, U. Beunger, F. Crotogino, Ch. Gatyen,. W. Glaunsinger,
S. Heubner, M. Koenemund, H. Landinger, T. Lebioda, W. Leonhard,
D. U. Sauer, H. Weber, A. Wenzel, E. Wolf, W, Woyke, S. Zunft.
“Energy Storage for improved operation of future energy supply
systems” 2008 Cigré Session, Paris
[2] Electricitystorage.org: “Technologies and applications”. 2003
[3] P. Lombardi, M. Powalko, K. Rudion “Optimal operation of a Virtual
Power Plant”, 2009 IEEE General Meeting, Calgary
[4] I. Bel et al. “Innovative operation with aggregated distributed
generation”, 2007 Cired 19th International Conference on Electricity
Distribution, Vienna
[5] M. Pokojski et al. “Dispersed Generation- Business Models and
Scenarios (Decentralised Power Supply 2020)”. 2008 Cigré Session,
Paris
[6] Fenix-Project: www.fenix-project.org
[7] P. Lombardi “Optimierung Virtueller Kraftwerkstrukturen“ 2009
Dresdner Kreis, Duisburg
[8] Larminie, J. Lowry: “Electric vehicle technology explained”. 2003
[9] A.Marongiu, A.Damiano, M. Heuer, Z.A. Styczysnki “Experimental
Fig. 10 Dependency of the total costs and the deficit costs on the number of
Analysis of Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery Performances” to be
EVs
published to ISIE 2010 Conference, Bari.
75 [10] Energy & more energiebroker GMBH und Co. KG, online:
Price EV 30000 http://www.stromportfoliomanagement.info
73 Price EV 20000 [11] European Commission-External Costs, Research results on socio-
Price EV 15000
71 environmental damages due to electricity and transport
69
[12] Word Alliance for Decentralized Energy (WADE), “Projected costs of
generating electricity (2005 Update) - WADE’s response to the report
67 of the international energy agency and the nuclear energy agency”,
Total Cost/M€

65 August 2005.
[13] International energy agency and nuclear energy agency, “Projected
63
costs of generating electricity, 2005 update”, online:
61 http://www.iea.org/
59

57
VIII. BIOGRAPHIES
55
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
Num ber EVs Maura Musio studied electrical engineering at the Università di Cagliari,
Fig. 11 Sensitivity analysis: total costs of the VPP vs the number of EVs, Italy. She graduated in 2010 at the same university with the degree M.Sc.
VOLL 4000 €/MWh She joins the CRS4, Regional Sardinian Research Centre, for the
development of a novel CSP system.
Pio Lombardi (M´2007) studied mechanical engineering at the Politecnico
VI. CONCLUSIONS di Bari, Italy. He graduated in 2006 at the same university with the degree
M.Sc. He joined the Chair of Electric Power Networks and Renewable
Renewable energy will become an important source for the Energy Sources at the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany
future power systems. Nevertheless some of them, like Wind as a research engineer in 2006. His primary field of interest is the
and PV, are not able to generate power on demand. Some optimization of virtual power plants. He is a member of CIGRE SC C6.
solutions like reinforcement of the grid, demand side Alfonso Damiano graduated in 1992 in Electrical Engineering at the
Università di Cagliari, Italy. In 1994, he joined the Department of Electrical
programs, energy storage systems and virtual power plant and Electronics Engineering, University of Cagliari, where he was an
structures could support a higher penetration of RES in the Assistant Professor until 2001, and is currently an Associate Professor of
power network. Electrical Energy Management and of Electrical Machines. His main
This study analyzed the economical benefits offered to a research interests are in power electronics, nonlinear control of variable-
speed ac drives, electrical drives, energy management and renewable energy
VPP structure by a distributed storage system, composed of systems.
EVs connected to the grid.
Thanks to their efficiency and to the higher number of
charge and discharge cycles, EVs with LiFePO4 battery
packs were considered. An experimentally verified model of
LiFePO4 EV battery was proposed with the aim to simulate
the V2G VPP
Two scenarios were analyzed to estimate the benefits of the
V2G. In the first scenario EVs are not considered, while in