Two-Stage Game-Based Charging Optimization for a Competitive EV Charging Station Considering Uncertain Distributed Generation and Charging Behavior

The widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) has turned charging demand into a substantial load on the power grid. To satisfy the rapidly growing demand of EVs, the construction of charging infrastructure has received sustained attention in recent years. As charging stations become more widespread, how to attract EV users in a competitive charging market while optimizing the internal charging process is the key to determine the charging station’s operational efficiency. This paper tackles this issue by presenting the following contributions. Firstly, a simulation method based on prospect theory is proposed to simulate EV users’ preferences in selecting charging stations. The selection behavior of EV users is simulated by establishing coupling relationship among the transportation network, power grid, and charging network as well as the model of users’ preference. Secondly, a two-stage joint stochastic optimization model for a charging station is developed, which considers both charging pricing and energy control. At the first stage, a Stackelberg game is employed to determine the day-ahead optimal charging price in a competitive market. At the second stage, real-time stochastic charging control is applied to maximize the operational profit of the charging station considering renewable energy integration. Finally, a scenario-based Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) approach is introduced in the first stage for optimal pricing learning, while a simulation-based Rollout method is applied in the second stage to update the real-time energy control strategy based on the latest pricing. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed method can achieve as large as 33% profit improvement by comparing with the competitive charging stations considering 1000 EV integration.