Enhancing electric vehicle hosting capabilities using strategic allocation of charging stations and energy storage systems

This paper introduces an innovative, strength-based, optimal allocation of public electric vehicle charging stations and energy storage systems to enhance hosting capabilities in distribution networks, considering nearby residential and transient customers. Unlike traditional network augmentation, this work emphasizes optimal placement in the early stages of adoption, using voltage deviation and load contribution analysis to enhance hosting capacity. The proposed framework uniquely incorporates diverse regional stakeholder dynamics, often overlooked in existing studies. To address regional challenges, this research integrates Australian-specific EV adoption patterns, plugin uncertainties, and storage export capabilities into its planning model. The stochastic nature of electric vehicle demand is modeled using a Monte Carlo Simulation, providing a probabilistic estimation of hosting capabilities under real-world uncertainties. This stochastic hosting capacity assessment technique addresses voltage and thermal limits, power loss, and voltage imbalances to ensure network integrity and efficient electric vehicle integration. By combining planning-level strategies with stochastic operational insights, this work bridges a critical gap in existing research, offering a scalable and adaptive solution for early-stage penetration of electric vehicles. The results demonstrate that the proposed strength-based allocation, supported by energy storage systems, can significantly enhance hosting capabilities for electric vehicles while aligning with the technical and practical needs of regional distribution networks. • The need for planning-based hosting capacity enhancement methods is reviewed. • EV load is modeled using regional plugin patterns and market trends. • Stochastic Monte Carlo simulation is used to model EV demand. • A strength-based EV and energy storage system placement method is proposed. • Flexibility improved up to 78.25% using storage-coupled charging stations.