Currently, smart grids are integrating electric vehicles
into the power grids. However, the uncoordinated electric
vehicle charge can lead to overloads in the transformers due
to power increases during peak hours. Therefore, this paper
presents different coordination strategies for charging electric
vehicles, by constraining the power delivered by the grid with
the transformer limits. In particular, two optimal strategies are
assessed and compared with a standard approach, that has
an uncoordinated electric vehicle charge operation. The first
optimal strategy looks for charging the electric vehicles when
the electrical energy price is lower. The second strategy aims
to provide flexible capacity to the electrical grid leading to a
smooth behaviour in the power demanded by the station. These
optimal strategies are proposed to integrate the electric vehicles
into the electrical grids and avoid overloads in the transformers.
The strategies are validated in the case study which presents the
worst-case scenario in terms of the week with more charging
events per charger.
Index Terms—Electric Vehicle Charger, Grid Integration,
Smart Grid, Model Predictive Control, Transformer Overload.