Power Quality Impact of Charging Station on MV
Distribution Networks: A Case Study in PEA
Electrical Power System
Thunpisit Pothinun
Master’s Degree Program in Electrical Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering
Chiang Mai University
50200, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Provincial Electricity Authority, Bangkok, Thailand
thunpisit.po@gmail.com
Abstract — This paper presents a study of the load profile and
harmonic impact of a charging station on medium voltage in
a distribution system. The charging stations are likely to increase
due to the need to reduce the battery charging time of electric
vehicles. Normally, the fast charger has a rated power of 50 kW,
but some chargers have a charging rate of 150 kW and 350-400
kW (350-400A). To study the effects of the power quality and
variation of the harmonics profile of the charging stations
a simulation of the Chiang Mai (Thailand) 22 kV network of the
Provincial Electricity Authority was used, and the Chiang Mai 4
substation was selected. This study used DIgSILENT Power
Factory as a simulation tool. The simulation results have shown
that the load profile in peak load during the summer retains the
original shape in this case without a charging station load, but at
9:00 a.m., the increasing of the load demand is more than without
a charging station load. For the light load of substation peak
load, time will change from 6 p.m. to 3 p.m. For voltage at 22 kV
bus, in all case studies, they maintained the standard level.
The peak of harmonic distortion occurs during the period of 9-10
a.m.
Keywords— Fast charging station, Harmonic, Power Quality
I. INTRODUCTION
The energy consumption of fossil fuels in the transport
sector has increased steadily over the years. The use of internal
combustion engines results in significant environmental
impacts and causes global warming. The internal combustion
engine efficiency is relatively low between 30-40%. To solve
the problem, electric vehicles were developed to reduce the use
of fossil fuel because electric vehicles (EV) are more efficient
and can use the energy from renewable energy to charge the
battery. Alternatively, the vehicles can use electricity from
power plants that can control the pollution with modern
technology.
Currently, electric vehicles are increasing in many
countries. In 2016, the cumulative number of electric vehicles
increased by more than two million vehicles worldwide, up
from one million in 2015. Electrical cars have a market share
of vehicles using fuel oil which was about 29% in 2016 [1].
In Thailand, electric vehicles are gaining popularity as well as
978-1-5386-2910-9/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE
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Suttichai Premrudeepreechacharn
Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
Chiang Mai University,
50200, Chiang Mai, Thailand
suttic@eng.cmu.ac.th
receiving government support policies. The References Energy
Efficiency Plan (EEP) of 2015 is promoting the use of electric
vehicles to reach a total of 1.2 million vehicles by 2036. The
Land Transport Department reports registration of all HEV and
PHEV varieties which total 102,308 cars. There were 1,394
BEV cars in 2017. Therefore, the use of energy in the
transportation sector will change from the use of fossil fuels to
electricity. The increase in electrical power demand for electric
vehicles will increase depending on many variables such as the
number of electric cars in that area, type of vehicle, driving
range, and traffic conditions. In addition to the increased
demand for electricity, the increase in the number of electric
vehicles also affects the electrical system in terms of voltage
stability, power quality, electrical planning and operation
control of the power system. The severity of the impacts that
will occur with this electrical system, not only depends on the
type or size of the charger, but also depends on the existing
electrical system variables. In the previous study, it was found
that there were several impacts on the power system such as
overload [2, 3], power loss [4], voltage flicker [5], unbalanced
load [6], and harmonics [7]. For this reason, the impact on the
power quality of EV charging on the electrical grid and
operation to support the charging station must be considered in
order to prevent problems that may arise when more charging
stations are installed in the electrical power system. Typically,
the battery charging of the electric car is performed in two
ways:
• Alternating current (AC) charging; by charging
AC to the electric vehicle; which the On-board
Charger installed inside an electric vehicle
converts AC to DC to charge the battery. It is
generally only 16-32 A, so it is suitable for
charging in the home and commercially. Low
power battery charging is due to the on-board
charger limitation in electric vehicles. On-board
Chargers are typically 3.3 kW and 6.6 kW for
single phase and up to 11 kW and 22 kW for
three-phase. [8]
• Direct current (DC) charging; by charging the DC
power into the electric vehicle, and in this case,
the charging station converts AC into direct
 current. DC is supplied directly to the battery by B. Charging Station Data
a battery management system (BMS). DC The charging station data is divided into two parts as
charging is a fast charge, which can be charged at follows:
high power because there is no limit of the On-
board Charger; thus, suitable for workplaces, • The load profile of the charging station in this
department stores or in public places. study used a profile from a New York State
electric vehicle charging station report [9]. This
This work will focus on the impact of charging stations at report collected and used the data of a charging
public places or workplaces in terms of substation load profile, station in public electric vehicle supply equipment
voltage profile, and harmonic profile. The electrical system (EVSE). This station was available to any electric
used in the study was the power distribution system of the vehicle driver and limited EVSE were installed
Provincial Electricity Authority of Thailand. In this study, the specifically (e.g. employees, apartment building
researchers used the power station in Chiang Mai on a medium tenants, or hotel guests).
voltage system of 22 kV. This study used DIgSILENT Power
Factory as simulation tools. • The harmonic pattern of the charging station in
this study used the pattern of the DC fast charger
II. DATA AND SYSTEM CONFIGUATION of ABB Terra 53 CJ charging a 2015 Nissan Leaf
at 50 kW three-phase input power. [10]
A. Substation Load Data
Chiang Mai 4 substation is located in Chiang Mai 2.6
Province, Northern Thailand and was selected as a case study. Winter
This substation supplies electricity to the business quarter and 2.4 Summer
residential area in downtown. It is possible that a commercial
battery charger could be installed in this location. The peak 2.2
load of this substation during summer was 27.66 MW at THDv [%] 2
2 p.m., and during winter the peak load, was 16.76 MW at 7:30
p.m. The load profile of the substation is shown in Fig.1. The
1.8
power transformer that was installed is 115/22 kV and 50
MVA capacity. The configuration of 22 kV distribution
1.6
divided into five feeder supplies was loaded in the overhead
redial system.
1.4

30 1.2
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Winter Hour of day
25 Summer
Fig. 2. Total harmonic distortion of voltage (%THDv) profile of substation

The load profile of charging stations shown in Fig.3

Power [MW]

20
have two characteristics which are workday and weekend. For
the workday profile, peak demand occurred at 9:00 a.m., when
15 people were coming to the work place and charging their EV at
the same time, and as a result creating a higher electricity
demand during this time. The load profile will increase in the
10 afternoon again by approximately 0.8 p.u. of peak demand. For
the weekend profile, the peak load occurred at 7:00 a.m. This
profile looks different from the workday, showing that during
0.5
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 the holidays, there was a lower demand and a relatively
Hour of day constant value during the entire day, which was approximately
0.3 p.u. of peak demand in the workday.
Fig. 1. Substation Load Profile in Summer and Winter
The harmonic current pattern of a 50 kW DC charger is
The total harmonic distortion of the voltage profile of the shown in Fig. 4. The dominants of the harmonic current are
substation is shown in Fig.2. Most of the substation load was the 5th, 11th, 13th, 17th and 19th, which is characteristic of
from small business shops and residences without a harmonic 6-pulse rectifier converters that convert AC to DC for charging
load from large industry. The percentages of THDv profiles of an EV battery.
the substation were similar in both summer and winter, with
high values during light loads at 3 to 9 a.m., and low values
when the peak load was in the daytime and evening.

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 CMD 115 kV
1.2
Weekday
Weekend
1
CMD(115kV)

0.8
Load [p.u]

CMD115/22kV
HTM50DY
0.6 9

0.4
Background Harmonic Load Bus

Breaker/S.. Breaker/S..
Genneral Load Bus
0.2

Harmonic Load
CMD(22kV) General Load Type
0

Breaker EV
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24

CB10
CB6

CB8

CB9
CB7
Hour of day
CMD06 CMD08 CMD09 CMD10

Breaker/S..
Fig. 3. Charging station load profile data

M400X3
Line
5 CMD06_Load
EVLOAD
EV Fast Charge CMD08_Load CMD09_Load CMD10_Load

4
Percent of fundamental [%]

Fig. 5. Substation model.

3
TABLE I. STUDY CASES AND SCENARIO.

2
Case NO. Load of Substation Charging Profile

I Peak Load Weekday

1 II Peak Load Weekend
III Light Load Weekday
IV Light Load Weekend
0
3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31
Harmonic Component Studies were made by changing the load profile at the
substation, EV charging profile and then increasing the EV
Fig. 4. Current harmonics of DC charging. charging penetration by 10% to 50% of the station peak load.
Then the DPL (DIgSILENT Programming Language) was used
to run the simulation automatically for 24 hours and collect the
III. NETWORK MODELLING AND SIMULATION parameter data of interest to study the impacts as follows:
A. Substation Model • Load profile of substation
The substation modelling in DIgSILENT Power Factory • Voltage profile
software is shown in Fig.5, which is also the model of Chiang
Mai 4 substation. A power transformer of 50 MVA 115/22kV • Total harmonic distortion of voltage (%THDv)
Dyn1 was installed for a 22 kV system supply to five feeder
loads and an EV load. IV. RESULT AND DISCUSSTION
For the substation load in each feeder and charging station
load we used the profile data from the section II and case study A. Load Profile of Substation Impact
for studying the impact of EV charging. Fig.6 – 7 shows the substation load profile of case study I
and II respectively. The pattern of the load profile remains in
B. Simulation Case Study its original form as the base case. The peak load occurred
A simulation studying the impact of the charging station on during 1 to 2 p.m., but in the early morning hours from 9 to 10
medium voltage, which is divided four case studies, is shown a.m. The rate of increase in load demand will increase faster
in table I. than the base case due to the increased demand for power from
the charging stations. For case I and II the peak load of 50%
EV charging penetration was 36.92 and 32.02 MW.

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 40 22
50% EV 50% EV
40% EV 20 40% EV
35
30% EV 30% EV
20% EV 20% EV
18
30 10% EV 10% EV
Power [MW]

Power [MW]
Base Case Base Case
16
25
14
20
12

15
10

10 8
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Hour of day Hour of day

Fig. 6. Substation load profile of case study I. Fig. 9. Substation load profile of case study IV.

Fig. 8 – 9 shows the substation load profile of case study III

35 and IV respectively, which are the cases of light load of the
50% EV
substation. During the 9 to 10 a.m. period, the load demand
40% EV increased. The peak load time changed from 6 p.m. to 3 p.m. in
30 30% EV both case studies. In case III, the second highest peak demand
20% EV was observed at 9:30 a.m.
10% EV
Power [MW]

25 Base Case
B. Voltage Profile
The voltage profile, at 22 kV bus of the substation, in all
20 cases was controlled in a range from 0.95 to 1.05 p.u.
following the standard of service quality for customers of PEA.
Because the power transformer is installed with the automatic
15 tap changer, that will keep the voltage at bus 22 kV constant in
all cases. Fig.10 shows the voltage profile in case study I,
which is the worst-case scenario.
10
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Hour of day 1.045

Fig. 7. Substation load profile of case study II.

1.04

30
Voltage [p.u.]

1.035
50% EV
40% EV
25 30% EV
20% EV 1.03
10% EV 50% EV
40% EV
Power [MW]

20 Base Case
30% EV
1.025
20% EV
10% EV
15 Base Case
1.02
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
10 Hour of day

Fig. 10. Voltage profile for case study I.

5
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
C. Total Harmonic Distortion of Voltage (%THDv)
Hour of day
The charging station was modelled as a current source of
Fig. 8. Substation load profile of case study III. harmonic distortions by using the spectrum of harmonic
injections as shown in Fig.4.

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 Fig.11 and 12 show the %THDv profile of case study I and
II respectively. For case I, the peak of harmonic distortion 4.5
50% EV
occurred at 9 a.m. changing from the base case that occurred at 40% EV
7 a.m. In case II, the peak of %THDv profile still showed the 4
30% EV
peak time as the base case. The peak value of 50% EV 20% EV
charging penetration was 3.79 for case study I and 3.05% for 3.5 10% EV
case study II. Base Case

THDv [% ]
3

4
2.5
50% EV
3.5 40% EV
30% EV 2
20% EV
3
10% EV
Base Case 1.5
2.5
THDv [% ]

1
2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Hour of day
1.5
Fig. 13. %THDv profile of case study III.
1

0.5 3
50% EV
0 40% EV
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 30% EV
2.5 20% EV
Hour of day
10% EV
Fig. 11. %THDv profile of case study I. Base Case
THDv [% ]

3.5
50% EV
3 40% EV 1.5
30% EV
2.5 20% EV
10% EV
1
THDv [% ]

2 Base Case
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Hour of day
1.5
Fig. 14. %THDv profile of case study IV.

1
V. CONCLUSION
0.5
This paper presents the study of the impact from charging
station loads that will increase in number in the distribution
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 network. The study used the load profile and harmonic pattern
Hour of day of the charging station and utilized the Chiang Mai 4 substation
as a study network. The simulation results show that the load
Fig. 12. %THDv profile of case study II. profile in peak load during the summer retains the original
shape in case without the charging the station load, but at 9 to
Fig.13 shows the %THDv profile of case study III. The 10 a.m. The rate of increase in load demand will increase
peak THDv of 50% EV charging penetration was 4.04% and faster. For the light load of the substation, during the winter,
occurred during 9-10 a.m. That was the highest value in all the load when charging the load, increases the peak load time
case studies. and will change from 6 p.m. to 3 p.m. For voltage at 22 kV
bus, in all case studies, it maintained the standard level in the
Fig.14 shows the %THDv profile of case IV. The peak range of 0.95-1.05 p.u. The total harmonic distortion was
value occurred at 5:30 a.m. The peak value of this case was higher than without the charging station load. The peak
2.98%. All cases of %THDv were in the limit of planning level %THDv of 50% EV charging penetration is 4.04% and
of PEA that had a limitation at 5 %. occurred from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. The limit of planning level of
PEA has a limitation of 5%.

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank the Academic
Collaboration Project between Provincial Electricity Authority
(PEA) and Chiang Mai University (CMU) for technical and
financial support for this research.
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