In this paper, we present an intelligent Smart Grid system for providing economic storage energy during a generating unit’s shutdown period. Modeling such a system is the principal aim of this research. An intelligent system is thus required to ensure an aggregated performance of GVs and SLBs to provide cost-effective storage in the Smart Grid environment. If GVs and SLBs can be used to provide sufficient backup energy during the regular and short-notice maintenance periods of generating units, a significant saving in storage energy cost is possible, yet maintaining reliable power supply. Moreover, SLBs favor more integration of RESs as they too are subject to output variation that may have to be balanced with energy storage capacity. Using SLBs as low capacity energy storage helps defer the battery disposal time by years thus favoring environmental sustainability. Capital costs for SLBs are much lower than that of CSs as SLBs are unsuitable for GVs, and might otherwise incur disposal costs. These batteries can still be used for other low power applications. Potential application areas have been sought, for using the second life batteries to earn some extra revenue for the GV owners. Second life use of the GV batteries, after retiring from their automotive use, has been considered by the research community in the most recent times in an effort to recover a portion of the initial GV purchase cost. Time-Of-Use (TOU) pricing of energy can enable the GVs to buy energy at a cheaper price during the off-peak hours, and hence sell energy at the peak hours at a higher price, yet cheaper than the CSs at the peak hours. GVs, such as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs), have recently become a viable choice as storage devices for dealing with the uncertainty of RESs and load demands. Cheaper and viable energy storage options are thus sought by the power system operators to realize an economic and reliable electricity grid. As these batteries have to be on-site only for the storage purpose all the time, the high costs of such batteries become a burden to the power system operators. Stand-alone batteries are manufactured and used for storing energy and supplying them back whenever necessary. Conventional energy storage devices, such as stand-alone batteries, can be a straightforward solution to the storage requirement, but they are rather costly. However, intermittency of RESs and unpredictable real-time load demands require the provision of further storage sources. Renewable energy sources (RESs), such as wind and solar power, can be used as alternative sources. Arranging for a spare generating unit can help improve the situation although not practicable from the economic perspective. Alternative energy sources are required to provide sufficient backup during a lay-off period. Forced outages and short-notice maintenance requirements are also a possibility at all times. Demand for a high quality continuous power supply have made the operators’ job difficult in scheduling the maintenance periods for thermal generating units. Regular maintenance of generating units and plant equipments is crucial for ensuring reliable energy delivery from the already aged power generation system. Our simulation results suggest that using gridable vehicles and second life batteries together can save up to 70% of conventional storage energy costs and recover capital costs for the second life batteries in only 1.5 years. Such a system model is presented in this paper for a Smart Grid environment. A system model that aggregates gridable vehicles and second life batteries together in an intelligent way to provide such backup energy can reduce significant storage costs. Second life batteries, disassembled from gridable vehicles after passing their automotive life, are another candidate for this purpose from the economic perspective. Electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, with vehicle-to-grid capability, referred to as “gridable vehicles”, are a useful choice as storage devices for the same. Using conventional storage devices for this purpose is feasible, but costly. Backup energy sources are required to replace the generating units during the maintenance period. Forced outages and short-notice/temporary maintenance of thermal units should also be considered as likely events. As numerous generation side assets, such as the generating units and the plant equipments, in the Smart Grid system have already aged, well planned maintenance and operational scheduling is needed to maintain their expected longevity.
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