Sector-coupled vehicle-to-everything operation of EV fleets for demand-side flexibility provision

The increasing number of electric vehicles expected on the road in the coming years poses new threats, as well as opportunities, to the current operation of modern power systems. However, sector coupling integrating electricity, heating and transportation can play a key role as a source of demand-side flexibility to support the system in managing uncertainty resulting from the integration of renewable and distributed energy resources. In this paper, we proposed an operational framework for vehicle-to-everything operation of electric vehicle fleets with mixed-use buildings acting as charging stations for demand-side flexibility provision. The proposed framework provides aggregators with risk-aware flexibility quantification, robust market bids, and real-time control decisions. It uniquely combines sector coupling with stochastic optimization and predictive control to enhance energy management at site level and unlock new revenue generation from flexibility provision. Our contribution advances the state-of-the-art by enabling coordinated, uncertainty-aware flexibility provision across multiple sites, while integrating both electric and thermal systems into a unified operational framework. The approach was tested on real demonstrators in Switzerland and Spain, highlighting the cost–benefits of demand-side flexibility provision, which resulted in monthly net revenues that far surpassed the energy costs of the charging station. We found out that electric vehicles provide substantial flexibility due to their inherent ability to shift loads across multiple sites; the flexibility provided by heat pumps in small residential units is not sufficient but plays a more significant role in large residential units, such as multi-family houses, underscoring the interdisciplinary potential of coupling transportation, heating, and electricity systems for more resilient and efficient system energy management.