Contribution of electric vehicles to power system ancillary services beyond distributed energy storage

Current electric power systems are experiencing a steady growth in renewable electricity generation and in energy consumption from electric vehicles (EV), involving a number of impacts on the system that increase with the penetration level and the system weakness. As conventional synchronous generation is being displaced by renewable generators, they must take their share in the ancillary services provision and supplementary equipment has to be installed, with its associated cost. This chapter describes how EVs, already connected to the grid with appropriate electronic converters and controls, can be used for contributing to the provision of frequency and voltage control, thus avoiding additional investment in supplementary equipment. The chapter also presents innovative approaches for both ancillary services, based on previous developments in electricity generation from wind and wave energies.