Project: Ancillary Service Revenue Opportunities from Electric Vehicles via Demand Response
Client: Better Place
Faculty Advisor: John DeCicco
Student Group Members:
Hanns Anders, MBA/MS Sustainable Systems
Kripal Kavi, MBA/MS Environmental Policy and Planning
Mark Leo, MBA/MS Sustainable Systemsp;
Brian Moss, MBA/MS Behavior, Education and Communication
The intermittency of renewable energy resources such as solar and wind poses a unique challenge for grid operators charged with procuring ancillary services to maintain the reliable operation of the electrical grid. Historically, utilities and balancing authorities have relied on dispatchable generation to secure such services. One of the most promising, but least proven, providers is electric energy storage technology (EES). EES devices such as advanced batteries store and release electric energy on demand and are prized for their fidelity and rapid response functionality. While the high cost of EES has prevented deployment at a meaningful scale, the large-scale adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) presents a unique opportunity. Recent advancements in vehicle-to-grid and battery technologies, along with regulatory and market mechanisms, suggest that demand response-enabled networks of EVs may soon provide ancillary services at a competitive price. The purpose of this project is to analyze the ability of aggregated EVs to deliver ancillary services, while estimating the value of such an opportunity using logical assumptions.
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