Leveraging Electric School Buses for Peak Load Reduction in Distribution Systems: A Stochastic Two-Stage Optimization Model

Abstract

Electric school buses (ESBs) are becoming increasingly widespread due to their health benefits, environmental friendliness, and incentives supporting the transition to net zero emissions. This study proposes a novel stochastic two-stage optimization-based model to minimize the peak currents in a distribution system (DS) by leveraging the flexibility provided by vehicle-to-grid (V2G)-enabled ESBs. The model reduces peak current levels in a two-stage process, delaying potential upgrades within the DS while also accounting for the associated system costs. The proposed model's performance is evaluated using real world data and scenario-based simulations. Results demonstrate that peak current levels can be significantly reduced with only a 1.88% increase in total costs, highlighting the model's effectiveness in optimizing DS operations.