Market Participation Strategies for Fast-Charging Stations to Enhance Individual Profitability and Grid Reliability

The rapid growth of Electric Vehicles (EVs) calls for sustainable strategies to integrate the charging infrastructure into the electricity wholesale market to reduce the grid stress and operational cost for the charging stations. Techno-economic assessment of two market participation strategies is presented in this paper for DC Fast Charging Stations (DCFCS) with integrated battery storage. First strategy models the DCFCSs as self-dispatched entity, aiming to reduce their operational costs through peak shaving and selling electricity to the market. The second strategy integrates the DCFCSs into the Day-Ahead (DA) market, allowing them to participate in the energy and ancillary services market. A case study using the IEEE 69-bus radial distribution system with ERCOT DA market clearing prices is conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of these strategies in enhancing the economic performance of the charging infrastructure. Results show that strategic participation in the wholesale market can substantially increase the economic viability of the DCFCSs while reducing grid stress.