Siting and Sizing of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Considering Distribution Network Flexibility

The location and capacity of electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSs) directly determine the capital invested and construction costs while also affecting the travelling convenience and economy of electric vehicle (EV) users. Furthermore, the siting and sizing of EVCSs has an impact on distribution network flexibility. Therefore, a method for the siting and sizing of EVCSs that takes into account distribution network flexibility is proposed. Firstly, based on the definition of distribution network flexibility, the flexibility deficit is analyzed, and five flexibility assessment indicators are established. Secondly, the travel characteristics of EVs are simulated based on urban road topology and a trip probability matrix, and a model incorporating users’ bounded rationality is adopted to predict the temporal and spatial distribution of EV charging requirements. Furthermore, based on charging requirements and distribution network flexibility deficit, this paper establishes a model for the siting and sizing of EVCSs considering distribution network flexibility. Finally, case studies are conducted with a 29-node transportation network and a 33-node distribution network. The results show that the proposed method can formulate a more reasonable siting and sizing scheme for EVCSs, decrease the flexibility deficit of the distribution network, and reduce the annual comprehensive cost by 11.96%.