Feasibility Study on Integration of Electric Vehicles in A Real Canadian Residential Distribution Network

Charging a growing fleet of electric vehicles (EVs) at residential customers’ premises through distribution networks brings many operational challenges to the distribution networks including distribution transformers overloading and degradation of quality-of-service voltage, which may cause the need to upgrade the distribution circuit including replacement of distribution transformers prematurely and circuit reconductoring. Therefore, this work presents different strategies to mitigate the impact of integrating EVs into a real Canadian distribution network including non-wiring alternatives such as charging based on time of use rates, the management of the EV charging, and the integration of a battery energy storage system(BESS) and wiring paths as oversizing of the distribution transformer and circuit conductors. Finally, a techno-economic comparison of the proposed strategies is introduced. The results have shown that a real Canadian distribution network cannot accommodate high penetration of EVs, even with managing the charging demand, without an intervention through a distribution network upgrade (wiring path), or a BESS integration (nonwirings alternative) which may be preferred from both an economic and technical perspective for the utilities in Canada.